Aberdeen Central definitely saved its best for last Thursday night.

The Golden Eagles finished the game on a 19-1 surge to snap a three-game slide and grab a 58-43 boys’ basketball victory over Tea Area at Golden Eagles Arena.

Central trailed 42-39 with six and a half minutes left before taking total control down the stretch.

“It just kind of went from a close game to not a close game pretty quick,” said Central coach Brent Norberg, “and a lot of it was stops, handling the pressure and then getting runouts and layups and a couple of big threes, and pretty soon it explodes.”

The final flurry was crucial for the Eagles, who saw a lead evaporate in the second half of a two-point setback against Pierre on Tuesday.

“We had that bad taste in our mouth,” said Central forward Brendan Phillips. “Obviously, we lost the last three games, the last game against Pierre we lost by two, so obviously we needed a win. We got the intensity up, we were able to get some stops, get some buckets, and that’s how we did it.”

The pivotal surge started innocently enough with a Grant Fritz free throw. Parker Lemer then nailed a 3-pointer to give Central a lead it would not relinquish again. Fritz added an up and under move for a basket, Phillips hit a 3-pointer and then turned a steal into a basket for a 50-42 advantage.

The Titans made a free throw to briefly stop the assault, before Central added the final eight points of the night, four from Fritz, and two each from Philips and Lemer to close out a rare win over Tea Area.

“It’s nice to get a one against a team that we’ve never beat before,” Fritz said, “not since I’ve been here.”

The last time Central beat the Titans was four seasons ago.

The win could not have come at a better time for the Eagles, who have had a rough stretch lately. After taking a seven-point halftime lead, Central fell behind in the third quarter.

“You’ve got to give our kids credit,” Norberg said, “because in that third quarter there was a time when they could have mailed it in, like here we go again and they didn’t.”

Instead, the Eagles dug in and found a way to finish what they started.

“We’ve had some rough third quarters,” Fritz said, “so it was good to get over that and come back in the fourth.”

Fritz, who did not take a shot in the first three quarters, scored seven points in the final period and also finished with seven rebounds.

“That kid defends every time. He plays hard,” Norberg said. “You wouldn’t know if he has 20 or he has 0. He plays the same way every single time.”

Phillips, starting in his second straight game after coming off the bench to start the year, led Central with a career-high 19 points and also grabbed seven rebounds. He said a dunk he had in the Pierre game raised his confidence level.

“That just kind of sparked me,” Phillips said, “and then today, I’m like I’ve got more confidence, I’m going to go out there shoot, shoot good shots, and get my teammates open.”

Norberg has definitely noticed a change in the junior’s demeanor since the start of the season.

“His skill level is good. He can do everything you need a player to do,” Norberg said. “He’s 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5, can shoot it, can drive, so once you’ve got it between the ears where he was confident … like he took 20 shots tonight. Now, for me to get him to take 20 shots at the beginning of the year, I would have literally had to use a taser.”

Lemer contributed 13 points to the Central total and Jett Carlson added eight.

The Eagles improved to 5-6 on the season and are now off until hosting Harrisburg next Friday. Central should have some new-found confidence after a solid win against Tea Area.

“Tonight I thought we played tough and we executed down the stretch,” Norberg said, “so hopefully that continues because we’ve got a tough stretch coming.”

TEA AREA (5-6): Sam Almas 2 0-0 4, Jessen Wiebenga 3 9-10 17, Garrett Wiebenga 4 0-0 11, Boston Willemssen 0 1-4 1, Marshall Smythe 0 1-2 1, Keeton Newborg 1 0-0 2, Brenner Konrad 1 0-0 2, Grifin Wiebenga 2 0-0 5. Totals 13-17 11-16 43.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (6-7): Oliver Rife 1 3-4 5, Jett Carlson 3 0-0 8, Parker Lemer 5 0-0 13, Brendan Phillips 7 3-4 19, Grant Fritz 3 1-2 7, Cooper Eisenbeisz 1 0-0 3, Cam Olson 1 1-2 3. Totals 21-48 8-12 58.

Tea Area 11 20 37 43

Aberdeen Central 13 27 36 58

3-point field goals – J. Wiebenga (2), Garrett Wiebenga (3), Grifin Wiebenga; Carlson (2), Lemer (3), Phillips (2), Eisenbeisz. Total fouls – Tea Area 10; Aberdeen Central 11. Rebounds – Tea Area 32 (Willemssen 8); Aberdeen Central 31 (Phillips 7, Fritz 7). Turnovers – Tea Area 14; Aberdeen Central 10. Assists – Tea Area 4; Aberdeen Central 11 (Rife 4, Lemer 3). Blocked Shots – Tea Area 3 (Willemssen 2); Aberdeen Central 3 (Lemer 2). Steals – Tea Area 6 (Grifin Wiebenga 2); Aberdeen Central 8 (Phillips 4, Lemer 2).