Aberdeen Central was in search of a solution Friday night and decided to set a trap for its opponent.

The Golden Eagles used a half-court trap to stymie Brookings down the stretch and rally for a 56-50 Eastern South Dakota Conference boys’ basketball victory at Golden Eagles Arena.

Trailing 44-42, Central turned to its trap and kept the Bobcats scoreless for five minutes. By the time Brookings finally scored, the contest was all but decided.

“We had to do something. We needed something to give us some confidence,” said Central coach Brent Norberg. “We weren’t scoring, so we needed to shut them down until we got it going there at the end.”

Not that the Eagles were creating a bunch of turnovers off the trap, but they got the visitors out of rhythm on offense.

“I think that half-court trap really helped us to stop them (from) running out, because I think our biggest problem was giving up easy shots and easy layups,” said Central’s Parker Lemer. “That half-court trap really slowed them down and that helped us a lot.”

On the other end of the floor, it was Lemer who took control of the Central offense. He collected an offensive rebound and scored a short jumper, he scored on a picture-perfect out of bounds play, he found Grant Fritz inside for layup, he pulled up and nailed a foul line jumper, and then added a pair of free throws.

By the time Lemer was finished, the Eagles possessed a 53-44 lead with 41 seconds remaining.

“It doesn’t surprise me. That’s what we’ve come to expect,” Norberg said. “He’s a senior, and he’s experienced, and he’s confident, and he does what you need to do to finish games.”

Lemer said he feels like he needs to be a leader for the Eagles.

“I definitely want to be a leader and have a big role on this team,” Lemer said, “because I think having that helps me stay cool, stay calm, and help me make plays down the stretch for my team.”

Of course, while Lemer was busy leading his team on offense, there was a lot of empty possessions on the other end of the floor as Brookings missed five shots and had four turnovers trying to deal with Central’s trapping defense. The Eagles tried the trap earlier in the contest and went back to it with the outcome on the line.

“The kids executed. They took away what they wanted,” Norberg said. “We got some turnovers and that was good, so credit the kids.”

Prior to that, the one-win Bobcats played stride for stride with the Eagles, making one big shot after another. The fact that Brookings brought a major effort to the contest, did not surprise Norberg, who noted that the team has come close to pulling off victories in recent games.

“To have these kids playing that hard being 1-and-whatever, is a lot of credit to them,” Norberg said, “to the kids and the coaches.”

Brendan Phillips topped Central with 13 points and Lemer finished with 12. Fritz added nine and Jett Carlson followed with eight.

Lemer said it’s hard to believe that his home playing career is fast coming to an end.

“It’s hard to process that it’s one of my last home games,” Lemer said. “It kind of flew by and then obviously the last game on Tuesday. It should be a fun one.”

Central, 8-10 on the season, hosts Sioux Falls Roosevelt on Tuesday in its final home game. The Golden Eagles conclude the regular season on Friday at Sioux Falls Jefferson.

“Next week is tough,” Norberg said, “but I’ve said all year I feel confident with these guys playing anybody and I’ll stand by that.”

BROOKINGS (1-17): Ben Moret 2 4-4 10, Austin Clark 4 2-2 14, Nathan Smith 4 0-0 10, Sam Johnson 1 0-0 2, Owen Burns 4 4-6 13, Griffen McCarty 0 1-3 1. Totals 15-39 11-15 50.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (8-10): Jett Carlson 3 0-0 8, Parker Lemer 4 4-4 12, Cooper Eisenbeisz 0 2-2 2, Brendan Phillips 6 0-2 13, Grant Fritz 3 3-4 9, Camden Fauth 0 3-4 3, Jacob Weishaar 1 0-0 2, Colby Dauwen 2 0-2 4, Cam Olson 1 1-2 3. Totals 20-47 13-20 56.

Brookings 11 26 39 50

Aberdeen Central 15 27 40 56

3-point field goals – Moret (2), Clark (4), Smith (2), Burns; Carlson (2), Phillips. Total fouls – Brookings 14; Aberdeen Central 9. Rebounds – Brookings 23 (Keech Bior 5); Aberdeen Central 28 (Dauwen 6). Turnovers – Brookings 16; Aberdeen Central 10. Assists – Brookings 0; Aberdeen Central 4 (Lemer 3). Steals – Brookings 1; Aberdeen Central 6 (Carlson 2, Lemer 2).