BROOKINGS – The Golden Eagles are back in the groove.
After a pair of close wins over the weekend, Aberdeen Central took care of business in a 59-42 Eastern South Dakota win over the Bobcats on Tuesday at Bob Jostad Gymnasium.
“I liked out competitive value tonight,” said BHS head coach Lynn Frederick. “I thought our kids worked hard, particularly, I thought our post players were active and aggressive, but I think sometimes you have to give credit to the teams that are really good and Aberdeen is a really good team – they are well-coached and just good enough ball handlers where they can work the ball and find Paiton (Burckhard) – they are really patient with that; their players make good decisions, so you have to give them a lot of credit.
“If we could have shot the ball a little better in the first half, I think this is a close game. I thought we played much better in the second half – offensively, we started to relax and shoot the ball when we were open and also were more aggressive inside with the basketball. I thought we did a much better job on Paiton in the second half – she had 19 at halftime and ended up with 25.
“We tried to play some junk (defense) and that didn’t happen, so we went with our man-to-man – tweaked it a little bit – and I thought we did a much better job in the second half, but they did have some other kids hit some shots, too.
“That’s why they are 16-1.”
Burckhard got the Eagles started – scoring down low on the first two possessions; knocking down two free throws; and then finding Emma Yeske for another 2-footer in the lane – as Central led 8-3 four minutes in.
Alli Gordon knocked down a 3-pointer to pull the ‘Cats within 8-6 before the teams traded baskets in the paint – Emma Yeske for the Eagles and Johanna Miller for Brookings – to make it 10-8 at the 2-minute mark.
Burckhard added a fast-break basket before Brooklyn Kusler drained a pair of free throws to give Central a 14-8 lead after a quarter.
Laura Babcock’s 3-pointer with 3:41 to play in the half gave the Eagles a double-digit lead at 25-15, and then, Cassidy Gough hit two free throws to push the margin to 12 points.
Grace Eggebrecht converted on an old-fashioned three-point play to get Brookings back within nine points at 27-18, but Burckhard matched that on Central’s next possession for a 12-point advantage – 30-18 – and that was the score heading into halftime.
The Eagles scored the first six points of the second half on a pair of fast-break baskets – one by Burckhard from Haylee Mork and one by Mork from Babcock – and a Burckhard basket in the lane gave Central its largest lead of the game at 18 points, 36-18.
Michaela Jewett hit back-to-back 3-pointers for the Bobcats to trim the lead to 12 points, 36-24, with 3:51 left in the third, but that was the closest Brookings would get the rest of the way as Karli Gardner beat the buzzer to give the Eagles a 45-29 lead through three, and the margin never dipped before 14 points in the fourth.
Burckhard finished with game-highs of 25 points and eight rebounds, while Gough added 13 points and Yeske finished with eight as Central shot 60 percent (21-of-35) from the floor and went 16-of-16 from the foul line.
Mork and Gardner dished out four assists apiece and Babcock had three dimes and three steals as the Golden Eagles improved to 16-1 and 13-0 in the ESD.
Jewett scored 14 points and grabbed five boards for the Bobcats, who dropped to 8-9 and 8-6 in conference play.
On Friday, Aberdeen Central plays host to Harrisburg while Brookings travels to Pierre.
ABERDEEN CENTRAL 59, BROOKINGS 42
Aberdeen Central (16-1, 13-0 ESD)
Emma Yeske 3-4 2-2 8, Paiton Burckhard 10-18 5-5 25, Laura Babcock 1-3 0-0 3, Karli Gardner 1-2 0-0 2, Haylee Mork 1-2 0-0 2, Myah Malchow 0-0 0-0 0, Abby Kopecky 1-2 2-2 4, Brooklyn Kusler 0-0 2-2 2, Ana Hase 0-0 0-0 0, Cassidy Gough 4-4 5-5 13, Brooklyn Munsen 0-0 0-0 0. Totlas 21-35 16-16 59.
Brookings (8-9, 8-6 ESD)
Peyton Evans 0-3 0-0 0, Michaela Jewett 5-10 1-4 14, Megan Gilk 0-3 0-0 0, Carolyn Hieb 1-3 0-0 3, Ava Burns 3-7 0-0 8, Alli Gordon 2-4 0-0 6, Grace Eggebrecht 1-5 3-3 5, Emma Hardin 0-3 0-0 0, Amanda Schulte 0-0 0-0 0, Johanna Miller 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 15-43 4-7 42.
Aberdeen Central 14 16 15 14 – 59
Brookings 8 10 11 13 – 42
3-point goals – AC 1-3 (Babcock 1-2, Mork 0-1), B 8-20 (Jewett 3-6, Burns 2-4, Gordon 2-4, Hieb 1-2, Hardin 0-1, Gilk 0-3). Rebounds – AC 24 (Burckhard 8), B 20 (Jewett 5). Assists – AC 14 (Babcock, Mork 4), B 9 (Hieb 3). Steals – AC 7 (Babcock 3), B 4 (Eggebrecht 2). Blocks – AC 2 (Burckhard, Hase 1), B 1 (Jewett 1). Turnovers – AC 12, B 13. Total fouls – AC 9, B 16. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
Photo: Brookings’ Alli Gordon buries a 3-pointer during the first quarter of the Bobcats’ 59-42 Eastern South Dakota Conference loss to Aberdeen Central on Tuesday night at Bob Jostad Gymnasium.
