RAPID CITY – One year after missing the state tournament entirely, Aberdeen Central has moved on to the night session of this year’s Class AA Girls’ State Basketball Tournament after claiming a steady, methodical 53-42 opening round win over Rapid City Stevens on Thursday afternoon.

“We played hard today,” said Central coach Paiton Burckhard, who earned her first state tournament win at the helm of the Golden Eagle program. “Taryn (Hermansen) was dominant in the post and everyone played right off of that energy. We didn’t hit as many outside shots as we’d like, but when you have rebounders like Taryn, Lauryn (Burckhard) and Kenadi (Withers), you can afford to miss some shots and hope to come up with an offensive board.”

It was just that sort of rhythm for the Golden Eagles, who battled their way for a six-point lead by halftime, then edged away the remainder of the contest, quelling each Raider comeback attempt with a moment of their own.

“We did a nice job of not letting big plays by them get the best of us, and responding to their hot moments quickly,” coach Burckhard said. “We never let it get out of our control.”

Hermansen finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds, an exclamation point on her post-play performance. Lauryn Burckhard added 13 points and another seven boards, while Ava Yeske chipped in with nine points.

Defensively, the Golden Eagles did not allow a single double-digit scorer for the Raiders, who received nine points each from Finley Love, Hayden Thorton and Haley Falcon. Mackenzie Schreiber added eight.

Central, 16-6, moves on to face top-seeded and undefeated Brandon Valley in tonight’s semifinals. That contest will begin at 6 p.m. Central time.

“On to the night session,” coach Buckhard said, “and that’s a good place to be.”

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (16-6): Ava Yeske 3 1-2 9, Kenadi Withers 0 4-4 4, Emma Dohrer 0 3-6 3, Lauryn Burckhard 6 1-1 13, Taryn Hermansen 7 2-3 16, Kamdyn Borge 1 3-6 6, Camryn Albrecht 1 0-0 2. Totals 18-51 14-22 53.

RAPID CITY STEVENS (17-5): Mackenzie Schreiber 3 0-0 8, Finley Love 3 3-5 9, Halle Peterson 0 1-2 1, Marley Seumanutafa 2 1-3 6, Hayden Thorton 4 0-0 9, Haley Falcon 3 0-0 9. Totals 15-49 5-10 42.

Aberdeen Central 9 23 38 53

Rapid City Stevens 10 17 28 42

3-pt field goals – Yeske 2, Borge; Schreiber 2, Seumanutafa, Thornton, Falcon 3. Fouled out – RCS, Seumanutafa. Total fouls – Aberdeen Central 12; Rapid City Stevens 18. Rebounds – Aberdeen Central 60 (Hermansen 16, Burckhard 7); Rapid City Stevens 33 (Seumanutafa 6). Assists – Aberdeen Central 12 (Burckhard 4, Dohrer 3); Rapid City Stevens 3. Turnovers – Aberdeen Central 13; Rapid City Stevens 13. Steals – Aberdeen Central 6 (Burckhard 2, Borge 2); Rapid City Stevens 6 (Thorton 3). Blocks – Rapid City Stevens 2 (Seumanutafa, Thornton).