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Central boys take down second-rated Harrisburg

Aberdeen Central’s Grant Fritz, center, lays up a shot around Harrisburg’s Aiden Costain, left, during Friday night’s game at the Golden Eagles Arena. Looking on are the Tigers’ Alex Smith, right and Braeden Feeldy, far right. In the background center for Central is Camden Fauth. Photo by John Davis taken 2/2/2024

Grant Fritz spun shot after shot off the glass at impossible angles, while Jett Carlson drilled two cold-blooded threes and – arguably most importantly – the Aberdeen Central boys’ basketball team came up with enough defensive stands when it counted as the Golden Eagles knocked off second-ranked Harrisburg 56-54 in a Friday night thriller at Golden Eagles Arena.

Central showed no signs of rust after an 8-day layoff, as the Golden Eagles gave the visiting Tigers no quarter from the opening tip in the Eastern South Dakota Conference contest.

“(It’s) a big confidence builder, of course,” Fritz said following his 23-point performance. “Now we know we can beat good teams like Harrisburg. It’s a lot of fun. That was a good time.”

The game was a showdown in every sense of the word, as the lead never drifted more than a couple possessions in either direction.

Fritz, for his part, was in a battle of big men in the post, going toe-to-toe with Harrisburg center Camden Phipps.

“We told Grant we’re not going to double,” said Central coach Brent Norberg. “You’re going to have to guard (Phipps) by yourself. Make it as tough as possible. He’s going to get some, just make it tough. I thought he did a great job of that.”

While Phipps finished with 20 points, Fritz was able to stand his ground defensively, while maneuvering and crafting his shot on the offensive end, using every inch of the glass and spin on the ball to out-deuel the Tiger big man.

“I’ll just sit under the rim putting up different hook shots, different angles,” Fritz said. “I like to work around the rim a lot.”

Fritz, however, was far from alone in his contributions. Carlson’s 11 points came largely on 3-pointers – one to open the game, one to beat the buzzer in the first quarter and one to give the Golden Eagles the lead in the waning seconds of the game.

Aberdeen Central’s Jett Carlson, right, pulls up with the ball as Harrisburg’s Braeden VanBockern, left, closes in on defense during Friday night’s game at the Golden Eagles Arena. Carlson was able to get off his shot and sink it at the first quarter buzzer on the play. Photo by John Davis taken 2/2/2024

Camden Fauth came off the bench for a couple second-half threes that gave Central a cushion against a Tiger run – one that they would, indeed, make – while Brendan Phillips finished with nine points and three steals.

“Jacob Weishaar hasn’t played a varsity minute yet and he played major minutes tonight and was outstanding,” Norberg added. “He didn’t turn it over, had a couple blocked shots, some big rebounds. When you have kids step up and do stuff like that, it makes you feel good for those kids. That’s what our team has been about the whole time.”

After Carlson’s lead-grabbing three, Harrisburg never quite recovered despite having the final possession of the game. The Tigers lobbed an inbounds pass from the sideline towards the rim with two seconds remaining, but the ball bounced off the rim and the Golden Eagles recovered the loose ball and hung on for the upset.

The win is the second straight for the Golden Eagles, who last played last Thursday in a win over Tea Area.

“We got a lot done in practice in that week break we had,” Fritz said. “I think we got a lot better.”

“These guys came out of the locker room tonight and they had a look that we’re not just here to play these guys and keep it close,” Norberg said. “We’re here to win. We need to protect our home court. The thing I love about these guys, it doesn’t matter who we play, they feel they should win the game.”

Aberdeen Central’s Brendan Phillips, center, makes a move to the basket around Harrisburg’s Camden Phipps, left, during Friday night’s game at the Golden Eagles Arena. Looking on for the Tigers are Jacoby Mehrman, back far left, Alex Smith, front right and Braeden VanBockern, far right. Photo by John Davis taken 2/2/2024

Now 7-7 on the season, the Golden Eagles have no let-up in sight, as their next opponent – Mitchell – is the top-ranked team in Class AA.

“You don’t get anything for winning this game,” Norberg said. “You get a bump in power points, but we’ve got to get better. We have a tough game against Mitchell on Tuesday, then we have Huron at home and then we go to some Sioux Falls schools. We’ve got all kinds of tough ones. This is great, and I want our kids to enjoy it, but we’ve got practice (Saturday) morning at 9 and we’ve got to get back to work and try and get better.”

Tuesday’s tip is set for 7 p.m. at the Corn Palace.

HARRISBURG: Braeden Feeldy 1 0-0 2, Braeden VanBockern 3 2-3 8, Maddox Plack 1 0-2 3, Jacoby Mehrman 7 2-3 17, Camden Phipps 10 0-0 20, Alex Smith 1 0-0 2, Aiden Costain 1 0-0 2. Totals 24-55 4-8 54.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL: Jett Carlson 4 0-0 11, Parker Lemer 1 1-2 3, Brendan Phillips 4 0-0 9, Grant Fritz 10 3-5 23, Camden Fauth 3 0-0 8, Cooper Eisenbiesz 1 0-0 2. Totals 23-47 4-7 56.

Harrisburg 16 24 41 54

Aberdeen Central 18 25 40 56

3-point field goals – Plack, Mehrman; Carlson (3), Phillips, Fauth (2). Fouls – Harrisburg 13; Aberdeen Central 12. Rebounds – Harrisburg 21 (Plack 7, Phipps 7); Aberdeen Central 28 (Fritz 7, Jacob Weishaar 5). Turnovers – Harrisburg 13; Aberdeen Central 16. Assists – Harrisburg 7 (Feeldy 2, Plack 2); Aberdeen Central 13 (Lemer 4, Carlson 3). Blocks – Harrisburg 4 (Mehrman 2); Aberdeen Central 3 (Phllips, Fritz, Weishaar). Steals – Harrisburg 11 (VanBockern 4); Aberdeen Central 4 (Phillips 3).

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