Aberdeen Central had to wait until the very last fraction of a second before it could celebrate its first win of the season Saturday afternoon at Golden Eagles Arena.

However, when Sturgis missed a free throw with .01 seconds remaining, it secured a 62-60 non-conference boys’ basketball win for the Golden Eagles.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Central coach Colton McClemans after recording his first varsity coaching victory.

The Golden Eagles owned a three-point lead in the closing seconds and Sturgis had the ball.

Central had a foul to give and planned on fouling, just not when a player was in the act of shooting.

That sent one of the top Scoopers to the line. He made the first, and missed the second, essentially ending the contest. McClemans described his emotion watching everything playing out.

“A little nervous but at the same time, when you send a high school kid to the free throw line to shoot three free throws,” McClemans said. “The kid at the free throw line is the kid that they want at the free throw line. He’s a really good player.”

After Central shot 8-of-11 from 3-point range in the first half, the Golden Eagles managed to make just one of their nine attempts in the second half.

“They bumped the pressure a little bit in the second half,” McClemans said.

Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles became more aggressive at going to the rim, making 14-of-17 free throws in the second half.

“Last week we struggled with just going and finishing through contact, and kind of shied away from it so we would’t get those calls going up and the contact,” McClemans said. “So that was kind of the big focus this week in practice was getting balanced and going up and going through contact, because that’s where officials are looking. It was good to make an adjustment there.”

The Golden Eagles were playing with a lead late in the third quarter before a rough final 90 seconds to end the period.

“We finished the third last minute and a half, we turned it over twice and gave up two layups to go down five . … The biggest thing is, we just talked in the huddle before we went out for the fourth quarter,” McClemans said. “You gotta forget about last minute and half and come out and play your best quarter of basketball that you’ve played all year, and our kids I think did that for the most part.”

The win was especially noting that Central was down starters Luke Swanson and Michael Dutenhoffer. Two players (freshman Liam Rife and sophomore Gavin Hauck) found out literally two hours before tip-off that they would be playing in the varsity contest.

“Those two kids did a really good job and stepped up,” McClemans said.

Turner Bergan led Central with 16 points. Kalen Larson had nine, Bryson Burgard and Brenner Waldrop each finished with eight, Rife contributed seven, and Hauck added six.

McClemans said the squad has made major strides since its first two games to start the season.

“It looks like we’re two different teams, especially on the offensive end,” McClemans said. “I think we moved the basketball really well and I think our kids have figured out that if we get a copule of reversals, there’s some easy opportunities or some better opportunities for us to score, whether it’s at the basket or playing off two feet and kicking it out for a step-in three. A lot of credit to them for making the adustments that we did throughout practice all week.”

Central is off until facing Harrisburg at a classic in Mitchell on Wednesday, Dec. 31.

STURGIS (1-2): Gage West 3 2-2 8, Jerek Dufner 7 2-4 22, Jaxson Cano 1 0-0 2, Hayden Rock 10 4-7 26, Greir Simon 1 0-0 2. Totals 22-40 8-13 60.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (1-3): Bryson Burgard 1 5-6 8, Kalen Larson 3 0-0 9, Turner Bergan 5 4-4 16, Jack Bertsch 0 2-2 2, Carter Board 1 1-2 3, Brenner Waldrop 4 0-1 8, Quinn Rayman 1 0-0 3, Liam Rife 2 2-2 7, Gavin Hauck 1 3-4 6. Totals 18-36 17-21 62.

Sturgis 16 33 48 60

Aberdeen Central 16 33 43 62

3-point field goals – Dufner 6, Rock 2; Burgard, Larson 3, Bergan 2, Rayman, Rife, Hauck. Total fouls – Sturgis 17; Aberdeen Central 19. Rebounds – Sturgis 17 (Cano 4); Aberdeen Central 23 (Waldrop 7). Turnovers – Sturgis 15; Aberdeen Centra 14. Assists – Sturgis 13 (Cano 5); Aberdeen Central 14 (Burgard 5). Steals – Sturgis 8 (Rock 4); Aberdeen Central 8 (Bergan 3).