What has worked for Aberdeen Central in recent games worked against the Golden Eagles Monday night.

Fifth-rated O’Gorman turned to its full-court press to speed up the pace and run its way to a 70-38 non-conference girls’ basketball victory at Golden Eagles Arena.

The Eagles, who had won five of their previous seven games by hounding opposing ballhandlers, found the Knights applying the same tactic against them.

“They’re a team that transitions very, very well,” said Central coach Mikayla Arechigo. “In our past couple of games we’ve been able to pressure the guards a little bit more and really create some difficulties for teams. This is a team that’s just a lot more disciplined, a lot more skilled than some of the teams that we’ve been playing.”

Central had a solid start to the game, leading 10-7 after the opening eight minutes before things turned in a big way.

“Give Aberdeen Central credit. They were really ready to play,” said O’Gorman coach Kent Kolsrud. “They have a nice baskeball team and they’ve been playing really well as of late.”

However, the Knights began to turn up the heat in the second quarter and Central’s offense dried up. The Eagles, who went more than 10 minutes without a field goal, managed just three free throws in the second quarter while turning the ball over eight times.

Meanwhile, the Knights took advantage of those miscues to get out in transition which fueled a 21-1 scoring surge to take total control.

“We wanted this game to be fast. We thought our full-court pressure could cause them a little bit of trouble,” Kolsrud said. “We’re a good team in transition when we get out and run as hard as we think we can. That’s how we got some separation, get some easy baskets off the pressure and some easy baskets off of transition.”

O’Gorman got up into the passing lanes and the Eagles were held to just six total shots attempts in the second period.

“We really struggled with the press and some of that has to do with the length that they’ve got at the guard spot,” Arechigo said. “Teams always talk about our height, but when you look at our guard positions, we’re very small, starting everyone with 5-5.”

Mahli Abdouch scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Knights, who improved to 12-4 on the season. Kira Mentele follwed with 15, and Lucy Moore contributed 12.

Taryn Hermansen finished with a double-double to lead Central with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Eagles, 6-8 on the year, are scheduled to play at Watertown this evening.

Arechigo still believes in her squad as it prepares to head into post-season play in the near future.

“Once you look at records and who’s beat who, really anyone has the opportunity to beat anyone,” Arechigo said of the Class AA field. “So hopefully it’s something our girls can take away as, yep, we have things to learn and work on as the season finishes up here, but hopefully they don’t get too discouraged, because I still think we have a lot of positives that we can take away.”

O’GORMAN (12-4): Paydyn Peterson 2 2-2 7, Lucy Moore 4 1-2 12, Mahli Abdouch 8 0-0 20, Clare Benson 1 1-2 3, Kira Mentele  4 7-9 15, Sydney Terveen 1 2-2 5, Julia Eggert 2 0-0 4, Aweng Akoi 1 0-0 2, Lizzie Kattman 1 0-0 2. Totals 24-57 13-17 70.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (6-8): Anna Malchow 1 0-0 3, Taryn Hettich 2 0-0 4, Grace Kuch 1 0-0 2, Taryn Hermansen 4 3-6 11, Emma Dohrer 1 0-0 3, Ayrlie Waldo 0 4-5 4, Caydi Withers 2 0-2 5, Lauren Burckhard 3 0-1 6. Totals 14-50 7-14 38.

O’Gorman 7 28 51 70

Aberdeen Central 10 13 28 38

3-point field goals – Peterson, Moore 3, Abdouch 4, Terveen; Malchow, Dohrer, Withers. Total fouls – O’Gorman 12; Aberdeen Central 13. Rebounds – O’Gorman 42 (Eggert 8, Abdouch 7); Aberdeen Central 33 (Hermansen 10). Turnovers – O’Gorman 12; Aberdeen Central 19. Assists – O’Gorman 19 (Abdouch 6); Aberdeen Central 9 (Hettich 4). Blocked shots – O’Gorman 7 (Mentele 3); Aberdeen Central 6 (Burckhard 4). Steals – O’Gorman 10 (Abdouch 3, Benson 3); Aberdeen Central 5 (Hermansen 2, Burckhard 2).