Aberdeen Central rallies past Harrisburg, 49-32 for AA crown

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SIOUX FALLS – South Dakota State commit Paiton Burckhard and the Golden Eagles returned to the top as No. 1 seed Aberdeen Central capped a 23-1 season with a 49-32 defeat of No. 6 Harrisburg (16-8) in the Class AA State Girls’ Basketball Tournament championship game Saturday evening at the PREMIER Center.

The Tigers led 6-4 after 8 minutes, before the Golden Eagles moved ahead 20-8 at halftime. They were up 34-25 through three.

Harrisburg pulled within four points at 36-32 with 5:08 left, but Aberdeen Central scored the game’s final 13 points.

Burckhard opened the run with a bucket. Cassidy Gough knocked down two foul shots and then scored in the paint with 3:28 remaining to make it 42-32. The Golden Eagles went 7-of-10 from the stripe down the stretch to seal the deal.

Burckhard posted a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds. She finished the tourney with 54 points on 19-of-42 shooting to go with 28 rebounds.

Gough scored a game-high 17 points in 19 minutes off the bench, going 5-of-9 from the field and 7-of-8 at the line.

Aby Phipps paced Harrisburg with 13 points.

Notes: Aberdeen Central also won a title in 2016 after finishing second in 2003 and 2004. The Golden Eagles placed third a year ago, falling to Sioux Falls O’Gorman in the semifinals. … The Lady Knights beat the Tigers 53-48 in the title game last season. Harrisburg won the Class A title in 2013, before moving to Class AA for the 2013-14 season.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL 49, HARRISBURG 32

Harrisburg (16-8)

Jeniah Ugofsky 1-7 0-2 2, Sadie Roth 0-3 2-4 2, Autumn Steffen 0-2 0-0 0, Sydney Halling 1-6 0-2 2, Aby Phipps 3-11 6-7 13 Kiki Berndt 4-7 0-0 9, Sydney Altenburg 0-1 0-0 0, Mia Cherry 0-0 0-0 0, Brecli Honner 2-6 0-0 4, Faith Van Holland 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-43 8-15 32.

Aberdeen Central (23-1)

Laura Babcock 0-6 4-6 4, Karli Gardner 1-5 2-2 4, Haylee Mork 3-4 0-0 8, Emma Yeske 0-3 0-0 0, Paiton Burckhard 5-11 6-6 16, Myah Malchow 0-0 0-0 0, Abby Kopecky 0-0 0-0 0, Brooklyn Kusler 0-0 0-0 0, Ana Hase 0-1 0-0 0, Cassidy Gough 5-9 7-8 17, Makayla Pulfrey 0-1 0-0 0, Brooklyn Munsen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-40 19-22 49.

Harrisburg 6    2  17    7  –  32

Aberdeen Central 4  16  14  15  –  49

3-point goals – H 2-17 (Berndt 1-2, Phipps 1-6, Roth 0-1, Honner 0-1, Steffen 0-2, Halling 0-5), AC 2-9 (Mork 2-2, Gardner 0-1, Burckhard 0-1, Hase 0-1, Gough 0-1, Pulfrey 0-1, Babcock 0-2). Rebounds – H 29 (Ugofsky 10), AC 33 (Burckhard 12). Assists – H 5 (Ugofsky 3), AC 8 (Babcock 4). Steals – H 7 (Steffen, Halling, Honner 2). Blocks – H 4 (Roth, Halling, Phipps, Honner), AC 3 (Burckhard 2). Turnovers – H 12, AC 11. Total fouls – H 19, AC 11. Fouled out – Ugofsky. Technical fouls – none.

Third place

• Sioux Falls Lincoln 50, Brandon Valley 45

The second-seeded Patriots (19-4) used a big fourth quarter to defeat the fifth-seeded Lynx (15-9).

Brandon Valley was up 11-10 after a quarter, 26-21 at halftime and 40-35 through three. Lincoln opened the final stanza with seven consecutive points

The lead changed hands three times, before Emma Osmundson put the Patriots on top for good – 46-45 – with a bucket in the lane with 1:07 left.

Mya Wilson (:24) and Courtney Klatt (:11) both went 2-for-2 at the free-throw line to seal the deal.

Morgan Hansen posted a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Osmundson dropped in 19 points.

Danica Kocer scored a game-high 22 points in the loss.

Fifth place

• Sioux Falls Washington 63, Sioux Falls O’Gorman 49

A big second half lifted the seventh-seeded Warriors (11-12) over the fourth-seeded Lady Knights (17-7).

The squads were tied 10-10 after 8 minutes and 28-28 at intermission.

Washington moved ahead 41-36 at the end of the third and pulled away in the final period.

The Warriors shot 48.9 percent (23-of-47).

Jada Cunningham finished with 16 points, four rebounds and six assists. Samiya Jami added 14 points and seven boards. Taylor VanderVelde pitched in with 11 points to go with four dimes. Aubrey Miedema dished out five assists.

OG’s Emma Ronsieck had 18 points, and Awoti Akoi and McKenzie Hermanson each contributed 11.

Seventh place

• Rapid City Stevens 47, Rapid City Central 30

The third-seeded Raiders (19-5) took control in the second quarter to complete a season sweep of the ninth-seeded Cobblers (9-14).

Leading 13-10 after 8 minutes, Stevens pushed the margin to 29-14 at halftime and was up 42-23 heading to the fourth.

Elizabeth Schaefer dropped in a game-high 15 points and Lexus Eagle Chasing added 12 as both players corralled five rebounds. Kyah Watson notched eight points, seven boards and three dimes.

Bailey Johnson ended up with 10 points for the Cobblers, who shot 25.6 percent (10-of-39).

Stevens beat Central by an average of 20 points in three matchups this year.