RAPID CITY – Aberdeen Central struggled to find an offensive rhythm until late in the game as the Golden Eagles fell 55-35 to Rapid City Stevens to conclude the opening weekend of the boys’ basketball season Saturday.
The Golden Eagles were held to single digits for each of the first three periods before putting up 16 points in the final stanza.
“Offensively, it was a very similar story as Friday night,” said Central coach Colton McClemans. “We struggled to get into our initial offensive action out of transition that allows us to get into our system.”
McClemans added the Golden Eagles had some good early looks from long range that didn’t fall.
“Our kids did a good job attacking the basket off the dribble, but ran into issues with finishing strong through contact,” he said.
While the offense sputtered early, the Golden Eagles defense maintained steady pressure throughout the afternoon.
“Defensively, I thought we played very well,” McClemans said. “We knew coming into the game we needed to be really good in transition defense, as Stevens wants to push the ball up the floor and look for early scoring opportunities. … The kids really competed on that end and gave us some opportunities to crawl back into it in the second half.”
Luke Swanson topped Central with nine points and Turner Bergan added seven.
Central returns home next weekend to host Spearfish and Sturgis on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Friday’s contest is set to tip at 7 p.m., while Saturday’s contest will begin at 1:30 p.m.
ABERDEEN CENTRAL (0-2): Michael Dutenhoffer 0 2-2 2, Luke Swanson 3 2-2 9, Turner Bergan 3 0-0 7, Brenner Waldrop 1 0-1 2, Kalen Larson 1 0-0 3, Q Rayman 2 1-2 7, C Board 2 0-0 5. Totals 12-59 5-9 35.
RAPID CITY STEVENS (1-1): Lucas Marcus 4 0-0 10, Andres Christensen 2 0-0 6, Andrew Zimmerman 7 3-5 18, Dreyson Paulson 3 0-0 9, Jace Gingras 5 0-0 10, Will Nebelsick 1 0-0 2. Totals 22-55 3-7 55.
Aberdeen Central 7 12 19 35
Rapid City Stevens 12 24 37 55
3-pt field goals – Swanson, Bergan, Larson, Rayman 2, Board; Marcus 2, Christensen 2, Zimmerman, Paulson 3. Fouls – Aberdeen Central 10; Rapid City Stevens 11. Rebounds – Aberdeen Central 38 (Waldrop 6, Swanson 5); Rapid City Stevens 45 (Zimmerman 13, Gingras 7). Turnovers – Aberdeen Central 13; Rapid City Stevens 12.
