Aberdeen Central scored on 11 of its 12 first-quarter possessions and ended up rolling past Brookings 71-43 in an Eastern South Dakota Conference boys’ basketball game Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Eagles were so dominant on the offensive glass that they had three chances to score on the lone empty possession they did have at Golden Eagles Arena.

Central ended up with 13 offensive rebounds, nine of them coming in the first period when the hosts had 10 second-chance points.

“That set the tone. Any time we did miss, we went and got it,” said Central coach Brent Norberg. “We shot the ball pretty well, but our scoring percentage was even higher.”

Norberg pointed out one hustle play in particular.

“There was a play that Brady Rohrbach made where he tips it, goes out of bounds, throws it behind his back through a kid’s legs to a guy for a basket,” Norberg said. “Now that’s a little lucky, but it doesn’t happen without superior effort. He gave great effort and the other two guys didn’t leave and go back on ‘D.’ They stayed there and were able to get a basket.”

Sam Rohlfs scored 10 points in a 24-9 opening period, two coming directly on an offensive rebound, and three more on a three-pointer off an offensive carom.

“One of coach Norberg’s and our main focus was getting rebounds, offensive and defensively,” Rohlfs said. “Obviously, in the first quarter we did that really well and that helped us open up that lead right away.”

Once the Eagles had the lead they were not going to relinquish it. Central scored 19 points in the third quarter and 17 more in the fourth as the hosts got out in transition to extend the margin.

“There’s always going to be a part of the game when shots aren’t going down, you have to have to find a way to get some points, whether it’s getting to the rim or getting to the free-throw line,” Rohlfs said. “Third quarter we came out firing, making good shots, some good cuts, everything.”

Rohlfs and Alec Voegele each finished with 18 points to lead the victory. AJ Hase followed with 15, and Carter Dingman contributed nine.

The Eagles shot 53 percent for the game. Norberg said a lot of that was due to shot selection.

“I think a big key right now for us offensively, there’s not too many times where we take a bad shot,” Norberg said. “You’re not going to make every shot, but I look back in these games and watch film, and there’s not too many times when I say, ‘Eew, that was a bad shot.’ There’s some shots that may be a little quick, but they’re still wide open threes for a guy like AJ who’s pretty hot shooting it, so how do you not let him do that? I just don’t think we’re taking bad shots right now.”

Nathan Lease led Brooking with 16 points.

Central, 12-6 on the season, is hoping to get back two players in the near future. Spencer Barr broke his wrist about midseason while Noah Behrends is recovering from a concussion.

“We’re hoping the fact that everyone else is playing better, they don’t have a lot of the pressure on them to come out and have be super human,” Norberg said.

While the Eagles have missed those players, there has been a bit of a silver lining.

“We’re deeper now than when we started,” Norberg said. “Now we can go nine instead of eight.”

The Eagles will host top-rated and unbeaten Sioux Falls Roosevelt at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Golden Eagles Arena, weather permitting.

Norberg said the Rough Riders are the real deal.

“They’re very good. There’s not a lot of weaknesses. Their second five would probably win a lot of games, but they’re also a team you can play with as long as you limit mistakes,” Norberg said. “You can’t feed to their pressure, you can’t give them layups off of turnovers, and you can’t give them offensive rebounds. If you do that and make it a full game where they have to shoot contested shots and you can try to get some easy ones yourself, anyone is beatable. They’re not unbeatable, but they’re pretty doggone good.”

BROOKINGS (1-15): Zach Moe 2 0-0 5, Jake Ammann 1 0-0 3, Sam Hardin 2 0-0 4, Jack Even 1 0-0 3, Trey Svennes 0 0-4 0, Matt Weelborg 1 0-0 3, Nathan Lease 5 5-5 16, Owens Burns 2 0-0 4, Jaxton Eck 2 1-1 5. Totals 16-45 6-10 43.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (12-6): Carter Dingman 3 0-0 9, Sam Rohlfs 8 0-0 18, AJ Hase 6 0-1 15, Brady Rohrbach 0 1-2 1, Alec Voegele 8 1-2 18, Jackson Dorsett 2 0-0 5, Brady Neys 1 0-0 3, Jameson Palmer 1 0-0 2. Totals 29-55 2-5 71.

Brookings 9 22 34 43

Aberdeen Central 24 35 54 71

3-point field goals – Moe, Ammann, Even, Weelborg, Lease; Dingman 3, Rohlfs 2, Hase 3, Voegele, Dorsett, Neys. Total fouls – Brookings 4; Aberdeen Central 11. Rebounds – Brookings 26 (Lease 5); Aberdeen Central 33 (Voegele 8). Turnovers – Brookings 15; Aberdeen Central 10. Assists – Brookings 4; Aberdeen Central 12 (Hase 4). Blocks – Brookings 2; Aberdeen Central 4 (Dorsett 2). Steals – Brookings 5; Aberdeen Central 7.