Aberdeen Central was ready when the curtain went up on its boys’ basketball home opener Friday night, but the script changed before the performance even hit intermission.

The Golden Eagles were unable to sustain an early cushion, fell behind and were never able to rebound in a 56-45 non-conference setback to Spearfish at Golden Eagles Arena.

Central scored the first seven points of the game, all coming from Luke Swanson, who had nine first-quarter points.

However, that advantage soon went away during a tough second quarter when the hosts were outscored 16-6 and trailed by five at the half.

“I think offensively, obviously it looks a lot better (than last weekend). When the ball moves side to side and kids attack off of the quick reversal, that’s when our best opportunities come,” said Central coach Colton McClemans. “We just had that four-minute stretch in the second quarter where we kind of turned into some one-on-one stuff. That’s what kind of got us down, and then in the second half we just weren’t able to crawl back.”

The Golden Eagles trailed just 16-15 in the second quarter after Swanson nailed a foul-line jumper, before Spearfish scored seven answered points to open up a cushion that they never lost.

During that stretch Swanson injured his knee and scored three points in limited minutes the rest of the way.

“My knee pain just started killing me,” Swanson said.

With Swanson sidelined, players were forced to play new roles and it impacted Central’s game plan.

“Luke does some really good things. Our kids I asked to do some different things we don’t normally ask them to do losing your point guard, so I think missing Luke is a big part of that,” McClemans said. “We had 20 turnovers and I think it’s just because I asked some kids that don’t normally play some point guard for us to step up and do that, and also missing (Michael) Dutenhoffer hurt us as well.”

Still, the Golden Eagles never went away. They used a balanced scoring attack to stay within striking distance.

“I feel like the team played good,” Swanson said, “and we’re starting to get into rhythm.”

The senior leader said the team just needs to play with confidence and take the shots when they are there.

“Just gotta come out hot and we gotta run our split screens really well,” Swanson said, “and if you get a shot, just take it and be confident.”

While Central had 20 turnovers on the night, none hurt worse than the one at the end of the third quarter. Trailing by three points in the closing seconds, the Golden Eagles turned the ball over which resulted in a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Spartans a six-point lead and momentum heading into the final period.

“That one hurt. You’re thinking your going down end of the quarter at the very least down three,” McClemans said. “We turn it over. That one’s on me, because we should have talked a little bit about that, where we want to catch the ball.”

After the Golden Eagles scored to start the fourth quarter, the margin soon ballooned to nine and eventually reached double figures. The Spartans were able to beat Central off the dribble to get into the lane where they caused major issues.

“They’ve got two really, really athletic guards that can put it on the floor and go both directions, and see the floor really, really well,” McClemans said. “They find the the open guy, otherwise they’re really good about finishing around the basket.”

While the setback was the third straigh to start the season, Swanson likes the direction the team is headed.

“I feel like McClemans is doing a great job. I like what he’s doing,” Swanson said. “He’s pushing the guys. We’ve got better culture this year. That’s helping us out.”

McClemans was pleased with his team’s performance, and wondered what might have transpired had the Golden Eagles made a few more shots.

“Third quarter I thought we got some really, really good looks that just didn’t fall,” McClemans said.

Kade Vavruska had a game-high 19 points for Spearfish. Bennett Kortan added 16.

Swanson led Central with 14 points. Turner Bergan followed with eight.

The Golden Eagles host Sturgis at 1:30 this afternoon.

SPEARFISH (2-0): Bennett Kortan 7 1-2 16, Kamren Davis 1 1-4 4, Mason Southern 3 0-0 6, Kade Vavruska 7 2-3 19, Cooper Gibbs 1 0-3 2, Karsen Seyer 2 0-0 4, Thomas Hughes 1 0-0 2, Tucker Olson 0 2-2 2, Ashar Hodgs 0 1-2 1. Totals 22-47 7-16 56.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (0-3): Luke Swanson 5 2-2 14, Bryson Burgard 2 0-2 4, Kalen Larson 1 0-0 2, Turner Bergan 2 4-5 8, Jack Bertsch 2 0-0 4, Brenner Waldrop 2 1-4 5, Quinn Rayman 1 0-0 3, Carter Board 2 0-0 5. Totals 17-41 7-13 45.

Spearfish 9 25 38 56

Aberdeen Central 13 19 32 45

3-point field goals – Kortan, Davis, Vavruska 3; Swanson 2, Rayman, Board. Total fouls – Spearfish 14; Aberdeen Central 16. Rebounds – Spearfish 32 (Kortan 8, Vavruska 8); Aberdeen Central 24 (Bergan 6). Turnovers – Spearfish 16; Aberdeen Central 20. Assists – Spearfish 5; Aberdeen Central 5. Blocked shots – Spearfish 3 (Vavruska 2); Aberdeen Central 2. Steals – Spearfish 9 (Kortan 3); Aberdeen Central 7 (Larson 3).