BROOKINGS – The Bobcats moved to the top of the Class AA rankings on Monday and found themselves in a battle the following night.

Brookings built a 14-point halftime advantage before holding off Aberdeen Central 49-48 in Eastern South Dakota Conference boys’ basketball action at Bob Jostad Gymnasium.

“Just trying to keep the kids grounded and trying to understand what our ultimate goal is, and it’s not to be ranked No. 1 in January,” said BHS coach Travis Engebretson when asked if his team had discussed the latest poll. “So the big focus for us is to just continue to make steps, continue to get better, and that No. 1 ranking will matter when it comes to the middle of March. That’s what the kids are all about.”

Josh Mohs (3-of-4) and Devin Coughlin (3-of-6) scored eight points apiece as Brookings moved ahead 28-14 at halftime.

“It was a hard-fought game,” said Mohs, who hit two 3-pointers late in the second quarter. “They’re very physical and we worked into their physicality and played through it. They got on us pretty quickly and we just fought back and shot well in the first half.”

The Bobcats limited the Golden Eagles to just 25-percent (4-of-16) shooting over the first 16 minutes. However, that changed in the second half as the visitors connected at a 50-percent (11-of-22) clip to make things interesting.

“It was a pretty good first half – offensively it was all right; defensively it was really good,” said Engebretson. “In the second half, we let them get into a rhythm on offense and kind of hurt ourselves. Offensively, our flow wasn’t very good in the second half; it kind of felt like we were on our heels.

“It was good learning lesson for us. We were able to find a way to scratch out the win so we’re happy with that, but we have a few things to work on.”

Aberdeen Central doubled up Brookings in the third quarter to pull within 36-30.

The Golden Eagles eventually cut it to a one-possession game – 40-37 – after Collin Stoebner made 3-of-4 free throws and Cole Bergan added a bucket in the paint with 5:21 remaining.

The Bobcats responded with a 6-1 run.

Coughlin got it going with a free throw with 4:56 remaining and Mohs scored down low following a Drew Cole offensive rebound with 4:35 left. Mohs hit 1-of-2 foul shots with 3:53 showing on the clock.

After Bergan made one freebie on the other end, Mohs hit a pair of charity tosses as the home team was up 46-38 with 3:11 to play.

Aberdeen Central’s Mason Flakus hit a 3 with 1:46 to go and Jonah Dohrer added a basket with 1:25 left, cutting the deficit to 46-43.

Mohs hit a pair of foul shots on the other end to make it 48-43 with 50 seconds to play.

Brandon Kusler countered with a bucket for Central with 45 seconds to play. Mohs made 1-of-2 foul shots 14 seconds later.

Cannon Hannigan buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 6 seconds to go, but the Golden Eagles were out of timeouts and Brookings did not have to inbound the ball as the clock hit zero.

“I told the kids, ‘watch the official and if he hasn’t started his 5 count and there’s under 5, there’s no point in touching the basketball,’” Engebretson noted. “... That was the right thing to do there.”

Mohs finished with a game-high 20 markers while adding five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Coughlin added 11 points, Carter Holm seven, Jameson Meyer and Brennan Carlson four apiece, and Sam Wilber three.

Holm, who dished out four assists, and Wilber both grabbed five boards.

The Golden Eagles got a double-double of 14 points and 10 boards from Bergan. Hannigan chipped in with 12 markers.

Brookings (8-1, 7-1) plays host to Pierre in the second half of a doubleheader on Saturday at approximately 7 p.m. Aberdeen Central (4-5, 4-3) welcomes Harrisburg on Saturday.