STURGIS, SD – The Aberdeen Central Golden Eagle girls basketball team came into Saturday afternoon’s game with the Sturgis Scoopers ranked #5 in Class AA basketball and they lived up to the hype, outscoring the Scoopers in the second half 34-11 to earn a dominant 57-30 win at West Gym.

The Golden Eagles took a quick 8-0 lead in the first quarter until the Scoopers battled back behind buckets from Leigha Long and Addy Kossler to cut the Aberdeen Central lead in half at the end of the quarter. The Golden Eagles led 12-6 headed into the second quarter.

Sturgis kept the defensive pressure on, forcing several Golden Eagle turnovers before the half. The Scoopers went on a 7-0 run to close the gap headed into halftime, when Long canned a 12-foot jumper as time expired and Aberdeen Central took a 23-19 lead into intermission.

The Golden Eagles exploited their size advantage in the second half, feeding the ball inside to post players Taryn Hermansen and Lauren Burckhard, who scored at will. Hermansen shot 70% from the field in the second half, dropping in 7-of-10 shots to dominate the paint for Aberdeen Central. The Scoopers couldn’t buy a bucket after halftime, making only 3-of-25 shots from the field which allowed the Golden Eagles to pull away for a 57-30 victory.

Hermansen was the scoring leader for Aberdeen Central (3-0), dropping in 21 points and snagging 11 rebounds, eight on the offensive end. Burckhard added 12 points and eight boards. The Golden Eagles shot 43% from the field (22-of-51), 76% on free throws (10-of-13), committed 13 turnovers and grabbed 36 rebounds.

The Scoopers (1-2) were led by Addy Kossler with 10 points. Leigha Long chipped in nine points and two rebounds. Sturgis shot 20% from the field (11-of-54), 42% from the charity stripe (6-of-14), had 10 turnovers and 14 rebounds.

The Scooper boys traveled to Aberdeen to take on the Golden Eagles at home, losing 62-60. No statistics were available.

Both Scooper basketball teams are off for the Christmas break, and next play on Friday, Jan. 2 as they host the Watertown Arrows at West Gym.