MITCHELL – Aberdeen Central had a tough night shooting and found itself playing from behind most of the night in a 54-42 Eastern South Dakota Conference boys’ setback to Mitchell Friday night.

The Golden Eagles shot just 32 percent from the field and dug a first-half hole.

“We couldn’t score tonight,” said Central Brian Norberg. “We just struggled getting in rythmn.”

Central managed to shoot just 26 percent in the opening 16 minutes. Norberg said it was a combination of things.

“Part of the reason we didn’t shoot well is we didn’t get many good shots,” Norberg said. “That’s a credit to their defense and a discredit to our execution.”

Central warmed up a bit in the second half, but so did the Kernels. The hosts got the ball to 6-foot-6 Caden Hinker and he did some damage.

“We had a hard time dealing with their size,” Norberg said. “The Hinker kid is a tough matchup for us. They kept going to him and we didn’t have an answer.”

Hinker finished with 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field. He also hauled down eight rebounds and dished out seven assists. Zane Alm, 6-foot-10 teammate, contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.

Sam Rohlfs topped the Eagles with 13 points.

Central (10-9) will play for the final time at Golden Eagles Arena today when they host top-rated Sioux Falls Washington at 5 p.m.

“They’re very good,” Norberg said. “They’ll probably be in a bad mood. They lost to O’Gorman two of the last three games”

Norberg believes his squad will be ready to go following the setback to Mitchell.

“You can either pout or you can come and compete,” he said. “I think our guys will compete tomorrow.”

ABERDEEN CENTRAL: Harrison Reede 3 0-0 8, Alec Voegele 3 0-0 7, Noah Behrends 1 2-2 5, Sam Rohlfs 6 0-0 13, Aj Hase 1 0-0 2, Jackson Dorsett 1 1-1 4, Brady Rohrbach 1 2-2 4. Totals 16-49 4-5 42.

MITCHELL: Caden Hinker 8 0-0 18, Zane Alm 4 2-2 10, Lucas Moller 2 0-0 6, Ben Helleloid 3 0-0 6, Dylan Soulek 2 3-4 7, Jonah Schmidt 0 1-2 1, Steele Morgan 2 0-0 6. Totals 21-44 6-8 54.

Aberdeen Central 8 17 33 42

Mitchell 10 25 44 54

3-point field goals – Reede 2, Voegele, Behrends, Rohlfs, Dorsett; Hinker 2, Moller 2, Morgan 2. Total fouls – Aberdeen Central 15; Mitchell 12. Rebounds – Aberdeen Central 25 (Reede 5, Hase 5); Mitchell 31 (Hinker 8). Turnovers – Aberdeen Central 14; Mitchell 12. Assists – Aberdeen Central 6; Mitchell 15 (Hinker 7).