WATERTOWN – Watertown used a strong second half to overcome a halftime deficit and pull away from Aberdeen Central for a 55-43 Eastern South Dakota Conference girls’ basketball win on Monday night.

The Arrows outscored the Golden Eagles 34-17 in the final two quarters, after the first half belonged to Central.

Eagles Mikayla Arechigo noted how the team’s offense executed well, although the defense had its struggles.

“Our execution was good in the first half on the offensive end, but it seemed like we were a step behind defensively,” Arechigo said. “As the half progressed, they started settling in offensively and we never picked up our defensive intensity.”

Central scored the first seven points to start the game before Watertown responded with a 9-4 run of its own. The Golden Eagles led 13-9 at the end of the first quarter and owned a 26-21 advantage at halftime before the Arrows took control in the second half.

Watertown began the third quarter with an 8-0 run and took its first lead of the game, 27-26, with 4:35 left in the quarter. From there the Arrows were able to build their lead, while limiting the Golden Eagles offense to just four third-quarter points.

Central was unable to work the ball into the post to freshman Taryn Hermanson and eighth-grader Lauryn Burckhard.

“In the second half we weren’t able to settle in and get our posts touches, which had a lot to do with the pressure they applied to our guards,” Arechigo said.

The Golden Eagles also had a tough time finding Watertown’s top shooters, Jaida Young and Jade Lund, who combined for 38 points. Lund nailed seven 3-pointers.

“Defensively, we struggled locating shooters,” Arechigo said. “It’s frustrating when it’s a player we’ve talked about locating.”

The Arrows’ win gets them one step closer to hosting a SoDak 16 game, as Watertown entered the game eighth in seed points, followed by Aberdeen Central in ninth.

The Arrows were led by Lund with 23 points, while Young had 15 points and four assists. Maddy Rhode added 10 points to the Watertown total.

Central was led by Hermansen with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Ayrlie Waldo had nine points, while Lauryn Burckhard added eight points.

Arechigo said the team needs to make adjustments as the regular season winds down.

“We need to get better defensively, especially at being able to guard players at different positions and get better at making adjustments in games,” Arechigo said.

Aberdeen Central (7-9) plays at Sioux Falls Jefferson on Friday before closing out the regular season by hosting Sioux Falls Roosevelt on Monday in a game that was postponed from this evening.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (7-9): Caydi Withers 0 1-2 1, Taryn Hermansen 6 3-4 15, Anna Malchow 2 0-0 6, Taryn Hettich 2 0-0 4, Ayrlie Waldo 3 0-0 9, Lauryn Burckhard 3 2-2 8. Totals 16-39 6-8 43.

WATERTOWN (11-8): Emery Thury 1 0-0 2, Maddy Rhode 2 6-7 10, Jaida Young 4 6-6 15, Miranda Falconer 2 0-0 5, Jade Lund 8 0-0 23. Totals 17 12-13 55.

Aberdeen Central 13 26 30 43

Watertown 9 21 33 55

3-point field goals – Malchow 2, Waldo 3; Young, Falconer, Lund 7. Total fouls – Aberdeen Central 12; Watertown 11. Rebounds – Aberdeen Central 22 (Hermansen 12); Watertown 20 (Paulson 6). Turnovers – Aberdeen Central 10; Watertown 4.