The Aberdeen Central boys’ basketball team fell to the Knights of O’Gorman 67-37 in a non-conference matchup between two of the highest-ranked teams in Class AA Tuesday night at Golden Eagles Arena.

O’Gorman, which entered the game 8-1 and rated second in the state, came out clicking on all cylinders. The Knights were led throughout the game by junior guard Matthew Eng who knocked down two three-pointers from the top of the key at the beginning of the first quarter to set the tone for the rest of the night. Eng ended the night with 23 points on 7-of-13 from downtown.

O’Gorman jumped out to an 18-7 lead, forcing Aberdeen into an early timeout after a breakaway dunk from Gavin Muirhead. Central struggled to find a response, lacking efficiency on the offensive end and the ability to string together defensive stops, specifically on three-pointers.

Long distance shooting defined much of the contest as O’Gorman shot 13-of-30 (43.33%) from beyond the three-point arc, as opposed to Central at 1-of-16 (6.25%). Another statistical disparity between the two teams came on the boards: the Knights outrebounded the Golden Eagles 43-27.

“We needed to shoot the ball well to combat their size, and we didn’t,” said Central coach Brent Norberg. “I thought we had some open looks that we missed, but we also took some quick ones. We also needed to be close on the boards and we just didn’t get that done tonight.”

Sam Rohlfs scored 14 points to led Central. AJ Hase and Alec Voegele each contributed eight.

The fourth-rated Golden Eagles, who fell to 7-4 on the season, return to action Saturday playing at Brandon Valley. Aberdeen remains on road for a contest at Pierre next week. The Governors are coached by former Central standout Brianna Kusler.

“We’ve got to get more physical. We’ve got to rebound, execute better offensively and shoot the ball better – from the free-throw line and from three,” Norberg said. “We’re trying to get to the point where we have a home game in the playoffs and try to get into the tournament. That’s the goal, but right now, we need to find a way to get a win on the road and that’s what we’re going to try and do Saturday.”

O’GORMAN (9-1): Matthew Eng 7 2-3 23, David Aplers 5 1-1 11, Trey Heckenlaible 2 0-0 6, Chad Ambroz 2
0-0 5, Gavin Muirhead 2 1-2 5, Emmanuel Struck 1 0-0 3, Leo Hueners 1 0-0 3, Rush Landry 0 2-2 2, AJ
Akot 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 6-8 67.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (7-4): Sam Rohlfs 6 2-5 14, AJ Hase 3 2-2 8, Alec Voegele 3 1-5 8, Karson Carda 1 1-1 3,
Brady Rohrbach 1 0-0 2, Noah Behrends 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 6-13 37.

O’Gorman 21 38 55 67

Aberdeen Central 11 21 30 37

3-point field goals – Eng 7, Heckanlaible 2, Ambroz, Heuners, Costello, Struck; Voegele. Fouls –
O’Gorman 15; Aberdeen Central 7. Rebounds – O’Gorman 43; Aberdeen Central 27. Assists – O’Gorman
14; Aberdeen Central 6.