SPEARFISH – Aberdeen Central controlled the pace and also controlled the scoreboard Friday night.

The fifth-rated Golden Eagles improved to 3-0 on the season with a 52-36 win over Spearfish, a familiar West River foe.

“Feels good to get a road win. Especially playing against a team like Spearfish with the history we have,” said Central coach Paiton Burckhard. “It was important to remind our athletes to get off the bus and get a move on. Starting strong and being in control from the get-go was key.”

It all got started on the first possession when Central’s Kenadi Withers rebounded a missed shot to put up the first points of the night, and the Golden Eagles didn’t look back as they held the lead for the entire night.

With just second remaining in the first quarter, Ava Yeske hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to give Central a 19-12 lead. Yeske excelled from the 3-point line as all nine of her points came from deep.

Kamdyn Borge and Emma Dohrer also nailed 3-pointers as six Golden Eagles found themselves in the scoring column. That variety of scoring helped give the Golden Eagles an extra edge.

“It’s going to be important all year for everyone on the floor to be an offensive threat,” said Burckhard. “You saw that tonight in Ava. She was ready to knock down shots and did so.”

The Golden Eagles were in rhythm all game as they put up 13 points in the second quarter, and 16 in the third, before they were able to rest the starters for a good chunk of the fourth quarter.

“We talked a lot about controlling the game and playing our style of basketball. Getting into our offense and looks that we want, not allowing their pressure and fast style of play to speed us up and get us to take quick shots,” Burckhard said. “We set the tone early and maintained. Very good win. Proud of the girls.”

Taryn Hermansen led Central with 11 points, and Lauryn Burckhard followed with 10.

In addition to strong offensive output, the Golden Eagles excelled in the other aspects of the game, holding Spearfish to just 36 points on the night, 13 of which came in the final quarter.

A big key in slowing down the Spartans offense was containing one player.

“Defensively, Lauryn did a great job on (Kate) Scharf, held her to two points. All around defensively we played great team defense,” Coach Burckhard said, “matched up in transition, forced turnovers and made it difficult for them to score.”

The Golden Eagles also found success off the glass, obtaining many second-chance points and ending Spartan possessions on missed shots.

“We talk a lot about how rebounding is a choice and when we choose to rebound we are dominant,” said Coach Burckhard. “Tonight, we made an incredible effort to rebound and had a lot of second-chance point opportunities.”

Central will play at Sturgis this afternoon for one last game before the holidays.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (3-0): Ava Yeske 3 0-0 9, Kamdyn Borge 1 1-2 4, Kenadi Withers 2 3-6 7, Camryn Albrecht 0 2-4 2, Emma Dohrer 3 0-0 7, Lauryn Burckhard 4 2-4 10, Ashlyn Behrends 1 0-0 2, Taryn Hermansen 5 1-2 11. Totals 19 9-18 52.

SPEARFISH (1-1): Sierra Standford 1 4-5 6, Anna Eisenbarth 3 2-4 8, Adelyn Bouman 0 3-4 3, Tiersyn Grubb 4 1-1 10, Megan Markovetz 2 0-0 5, Kate Scharf 1 0-0 2, Avery Rauterkus 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 10-14 36.

Aberdeen Central 19 32 48 52

Spearfish 12 15 23 36

3-point field goals – Yeske 3, Borge, Dohrer; Grubb, Markovetz. Total fouls – Aberdeen Central 18; Spearfish 19.