The Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles celebrated senior night in style with a 53-42 Eastern South Dakota Conference girls’ basketball victory over the Watertown Arrows Tuesday night.

Central used a fast start and balanced scoring attack to secure the win at Golden Eagles Arena.

The fifth-rated Golden Eagles came out firing in the opening quarter, outscoring the Arrows 15-3 to set the tone early. Central coach Paiton Burckhard was pleased with her team’s aggressive approach.

“We were super aggressive and active, and we got pretty much anything that we wanted,” Burckhard said. “So, to see us start like that, it’s a feel-good moment.”

Central’s defensive intensity fueled its offense all night. The Golden Eagles handled Watertown’s pressure and stayed composed, something they’ve prepared for throughout the season.

“We always expect some pressure. A lot of teams do it across the state,” Burckhard said. “It’s something we have worked on and handled all throughout the season.”

The Golden Eagles also found success by spreading the floor and capitalizing when their post players drew extra attention. Lauryn Burckhard led the team with 15 points, while Kenadi Withers added 14 and Kamdyn Borge chipped in 12. Senior Emma Dohrer contributed 11 in her final regular-season home game.

“When our girls start to realize Lauryn and Taryn (Hermansen) get a lot of attention down there and have confidence, things start to go really well for us,” Coach Burckhard said. “So yeah, definitely proud of the assertiveness from our perimeter.”

For Dohrer, the win meant even more on senior night.

“It feels really good. This is the game we’ve been playing for all season,” Dohrer said. “We’ve been waiting for this game, seeing other people do it, and it’s finally our game. It feels really good to come out there and finish our senior year strong.”

Dohrer emphasized that defense was her main focus.

“I knew I had to play good defense,” she said, “and by playing good defense my offense would come from that.”

Late in the game, Central showed poise by slowing the tempo and taking care of the basketball.

“We knew we had to slow it down and handle the ball better,” Dohrer said. “We knew we had the time on our side the whole game, so just taking our time with the shots and not throwing up any bad shots.”

Central, 12-4 on the season, heads on the road for another conference game against Brookings on Friday night.

WATERTOWN (3-14): Andi Olson 3 0-0 7, Lily Mack 2 0-0 5, Jordan Remmers 4 4-5 13, Ellie Thury 2 0-0 5, Kynsee Russell 0 1-2 1, Lydia Stemwedel 2 3-3 8, Emma Olson 1 0-0 3, Torence Tipton 0 1-2 1. Totals 14 9-12 43.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (12-4): Kamdyn Borge 4 3-3 12, Kenadi Withers 5 4-6 14, Emma Dohrer 3 3-4 11, Lauryn Burckhard 6 3-6 15. Totals 18 13-19 53.

Watertown 3 13 30 43

Aberdeen Central 15 26 43 52

3-point field goals – A. Olson, Mack, Remmers, Thury, Stemwedel, E. Olson; Borge, Dohrer 2. Total fouls – Watertown 22. Aberdeen Central 15. Rebounds – Watertown 24 (Thury 10); Aberdeen Central 33 (Borge 7, Burckhard 6) Turnovers – Watertown 20; Aberdeen Central 16; Assists – Watertown 6; Aberdeen Central 13 (Borge 4, Dohrer 3). Steals – Watertown 8 (Russell 4, Stemwedel 2); Aberdeen Central 7 (Borge 3, Dohrer 3).