When push came to shove, Aberdeen Central did not back down from unbeaten Sioux Falls Roosevelt Monday night at Golden Eagles Arena.
However, when they needed a stop or a crucial basket, Central came up just short and eventually fell 62-57 in the non-conference boys’ basketball game.
“There’s nobody that we play we don’t think we can beat,” said Central coach Brent Norberg. “We weren’t surprised that we had a shot. You always want a shot at the end.”
Central trailed the entire second half, but the top-rated Rough Riders were not able to pull away, either.
The Golden Eagles were down by 10 points with 4:56 remaining and kept chipping away until eventually getting to within 57-55 on two Sam Rohlfs free throws with 37.9 seconds left.
Roosevelt then made two free throws before Rohlfs scored again to get the margin back to two points with 30 seconds left.
Central was forced to foul and this time the Riders made just one of two free throws to leave the door open, however, a potential game-tying three-pointer was off the mark before Roosevelt added two more foul shots for the final margin of difference.
After the setback, Norberg lamented some turnovers that led to Roosevelt baskets and some shots that his team was unable to convert in the paint.
“We missed some bunnies and we gave up some easy ones,” Norberg said. “The key to AA games, and I’ve said this forever, a lot of times in AA it comes down to the 8-10 points of easy baskets. Are you going to get them or are you going to give them up? And we gave them up tonight.”
That was the only thing Central conceded. The Eagles came out aggressive and did not back down to the challenge.
“Obviously, we knew they were undefeated and a good team, but Coach Norberg told us to take it at them and not to back down,” said Central senior Jameson Palmer. “He just said just keep going to the rim and keep challenging them, and that’s kind of what we did the whole game.”
Palmer did his part to spark the Eagles, nailing back-to-back three-point field goals to stake the squad to a 6-2 lead.
“Personally, I think I’m just a role player. I’m not really a scorer or anything,” Palmer said. “My shot in warmup was feeling good, so those first two threes to start off the game with, I just let them fly and they went in, and it kind of boosted our team the rest of the game.”
While Palmer is not normally one of Central’s leading scorers, the fact that he got the offense going was not a surprise to Norberg.
“Jameson has been a great player for us. He does kind of whatever we want,” Norberg said. “About the middle of the year when we had all these injuries, we kind of talked to all the guys and said if you’ve got shots you have to take them. Ever since then he’s been very timely in shooting.”
Micah Johnson had 19 points to lead Roosevelt, 20-0 on the season.
Rohlfs had 14 points and Alec Voegele 11 for the Eagles. Palmer, Spencer Barr and AJ Hase all added eight.
Central, 12-8 on the season, hosts Yankton at 6 p.m. Saturday at Golden Eagles Arena in the SoDak 16. The winner advances to the state tournament while the loser is finished for the season.
The Bucks defeated the Eagles by 31 points in the regular season down in Yankton.
“They just hammered us and shot it really well,” Norberg said. “We didn’t’ match their intensity. I would hope that we’ve learned a lesson from that one.”
SIOUX FALLS ROOSEVELT (20-0): Micah Johnson 6-11 5-6 19, Vance Borchers 5 1-2 12, Gabe Kranzler 1 0-0 3, Marcus Phillips 3 2-4 8, Sam McMillan 2 0-0 4, Tyree Nave 2 0-0 4, Thoralingo Gilo 4 0-1 8, Justin Shaw 2 0-0 4. Totals 25-53 8-13 62.
ABERDEEN CENTRAL (12-8): Alec Voegele 5 0-2 11, Jackson Dorsett 2 1-1 6, Jameson Palmer 2 2-2 8, Brady Rohrbach 1 0-0 2, Sam Rohlfs 5 4-6 14, Spencer Barr 1 5-6 8, AJ Hase 3 2-2 8. Totals 19-51 14-19 57.
Sioux Falls Roosevelt 16 24 46 62
Aberdeen Central 10 23 40 57
3-point field goals – Johnson, Borchers, Kranzler; Voegele, Dorsett, Palmer 2, Barr. Fouled out – Phillips. Total fouls – Sioux Falls Roosevelt 14; Aberdeen Central 14. Rebounds – Sioux Falls Roosevelt 35 (Johnson 8, McMillan 8); Aberdeen Central 30 (Voegele 8). Turnovers – Sioux Falls Roosevelt 16; Aberdeen Central 13. Assists – Sioux Falls Roosevelt 9; Aberdeen Central 10 (Rohlfs 3). Blocked shots – Sioux Falls Roosevelt 2; Aberdeen Central 4 (Voegele 3). Steals – Sioux Falls Roosevelt 8 (Borchers 4); Aberdeen Central 7 (Rohlfs 4).
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