WATERTOWN – So much for home-court advantage.

Eight days after Watertown throttled second-ranked Brookings in an Eastern South Dakota Conference boys basketball game in Brookings, the now fourth-ranked Bobcats returned the favor with a impressive 57-33 win over the Arrows on Saturday night in the Civic Arena.

The Arrows (5-8 overall and 4-7 in the ESD) beat the Bobcats 54-47 last Friday, leading by 18 points with just over three minutes left. Brookings led by 15 at halftime on Saturday and after Watertown trimmed the margin to single digits, the Bobcats (12-2, 10-2) erupted for 22 points in the fourth quarter to win going away.

“Credit to them, they were a lot better on both ends than when we played them down there,” said Watertown head coach Brian Norberg. “We had a nice game down there and did a lot of good things but at the same time, they didn't shoot it very well. We maybe were the team with a little more energy down there and tonight that was flipped.”

Almost from the start, the Bobcats just seemed in control. They led only 8-6 after one quarter, but had success shooting the ball and used a solid defensive effort focused on shutting down Watertown's leading scorer – 6-foot-4 senior Spencer Waege. Waege was held scoreless in the game with only two field-goal attempts.

Brookings gained some separation with a second-quarter surge that opened with five straight points by 6-3 senior Brennan Carlson and ended with six straight points from 6-1 senior guard Josh Mohs.

The Bobcats canned 12 of 20 field-goal attempts for 60 percent and limited the Arrows to 32 percent (six of 19) from the field in the first half.

“I think the part of the difference in the two games was our intensity level,” said Brookings head coach Travis Engebretson. “It was really an odd week for us last week. We lost a game to postponement on Tuesday. How often do your get four days of practice this time of season? Our practices were just stale and that was reflected in the game. Tonight, the kids were locked in and we played with a little chip on our shoulder.”

It didn't hurt that the Bobcats didn't miss much. They followed up their first-half shooting performance with another 12-for-20 effort from the field in the second half. And it wasn't as if the Bobcats were just shooting uncontested layups.

After Watertown seemed to plug the hole in a sinking ship in the third quarter – pulling with 35-26 – the Bobcats took over down the stretch with the help of 11 points from 6-5 sophomore Drew Cole. Cole's drained a trio of 3-pointers in the final period.

“They did a great job of taking away things we've been doing pretty well on the offensive end and they're just really hard to guard,” Norberg said of the Bobcats. “When they're shooting it like that and they're that comfortable, they're really going to put points up on you. That's as good an offensive performance as we've seen against any of the teams we've faced this year.”

The Bobcats shared in the explosion. Carlson led the way with 15 points. Cole followed with 11, Mohs nine and Devin Coughlin, another senior guard, eight.

The shooting differencial also played a role in the game's rebounding battle. Carlson grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Bobcats to a 25-17 advantage.

“We talked to the kids before the game about sacrifice,” said Engebretson. “You have to sacrifice the individual for the team and that showed tonight.”

Senior guard Alex Gauer scored 12 points and senior forward Brent Schulte 11 for the Arrows. Schulte added eight rebounds. Waege contributed three assists and two steals.

Watertown won't have much time to sulk. They open a three-game week on Tuesday by hosting Sioux Falls Lincoln at 7 p.m. in the Civic Arena. The Arrows will also travel to Pierre on Friday before returning home to host Mitchell on Saturday.

Live and learn will be the message from Norberg.

“Our margin of error isn't huge and we know that,” he said. “I'm really proud of our team. I think there's been a few games where the result could have been similar to tonight, but this team has really completed and not given in all year. I don't think that's going to be the case down the road either. We have to learn from this, move on and get better from it.”