Eagles, Patriots advance as top seeds in AA Girls’ Tournament

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SIOUX FALLS – The two top seeds – Aberdeen Central and Sioux Falls Lincoln – advanced to Friday’s semifinals while Brandon Valley and Harrisburg pulled off upsets in the bottom of each brackets.

The Golden Eagles, seeded No. 1, cruised to a 54-42 win over Rapid City Central while No. 2 Lincoln trailed by a point after a quarter before coming alive and putting away Washington, 55-43.

The fifth-seeded Lynx took it to No. 4 O’Gorman in a 50-41 upset while the sixth-seeded Tigers stymied No. 3 Stevens for the first 8 minutes en route to the 45-34 upset.

Today in consolation action, the Cobblers and Lady Knights square off in the Arena while the Warriors and Raiders face off in the PREMIER Center. Tipoff is at 11 a.m.

In the championship semifinals in the PREMIER Center, Aberdeen Central takes on Brandon Valley at 3 p.m. while Lincoln and Harrisburg meet at 6:30 p.m.

• Aberdeen Central 54, Rapid City Central 42

The top-seeded Golden Eagles built a 14-6 lead after a quarter; built it to 31-19 at halftime; and pushed it to 44-29 through three on the way to the first round-win at the PREMIER Center.

Paiton Burckhard led Aberdeen Central, 21-1, with 17 points and eight rebounds while Haylee Mork added 16 points, seven assists and six boards.

Abbie Freeman scored 15 points for the eighth-seeded Cobblers, 9-12, as Juneau Jones finished with eight points and nine boards.

• Sioux Falls Lincoln 55, Sioux Falls Washington 43

The second-seeded Patriots overcame an 11-10 first-quarter deficit to outscore Washington, 21-9, in the second quarter to take control for a 31-20 halftime advantage at the Arena.

Lincoln increased its lead to 45-29 with a quarter to play on the way to improving to 18-3 on the season as the Warriors dropped to 9-12.

Morgan Hansen led the Pats with 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocks while Courtney Klatt added 12 points, three steals and a pair of dimes and Emma Osmundson contributed 10 points.

Samiya Jami posted a double-double of 11 points 11 boards as Jada Cunningham finished with 11 points and eight assists.

• Brandon Valley 50, Sioux Falls O’Gorman 41

The fifth-seeded Lynx led at every break to upset No. 4 O’Gorman at the PREMIER Center.

Brandon Valley was up 14-8 after the first quarter; 20-15 at halftime; and 30-25 through three as the Lynx improved to 15-7.

Trinity Law netted 17 points and came up with three steals as the Lady Knights turned the ball over 25 times. Danica Kocer added 10 points for Brandon Valley.

Emma Ronsiek had 25 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocks for O’Gorman, which dropped to 16-6.

• Harrisburg 45, Rapid City Stevens 34

The sixth-seeded Tigers held No. 3 Stevens scoreless in the first quarter to pull off the double-digit upset at the Arena.

Trailing 15-0 after the first eight minutes and 28-10 at halftime, the Raiders got within 34-24 heading into the final frame but couldn’t overcome their first quarter as the dropped to 18-4.

Jeniah Ugofsky posted game-highs of 15 points and eight rebounds, to go along with two assists and two steals as Harrisburg improved to 15-7.

Elizabeth Schaefer and Sydney Smith both scored nine points for Stevens, while Kyah Watson finished with seven points, six boards and four steals.