Turnovers and 3-pointers doomed Aberdeen Central on Tuesday night.

The Golden Eagles fell 50-39 to O’Gorman in non-conference boys’ basketball action at Golden Eagles Arena.

Central built an early 5-1 lead, but turnovers plagued the Golden Eagles after that, as the O’Gorman defense pressured Central into 11 turnovers in the first half and 16 for the game, several of which led to layups and even a dunk for the Knights.

“They were bad turnovers,” Central coach Brent Norberg said. “It’s one thing to turn it over, but when you turn it over and it leads to layups on the other end, that’s really hard to overcome against a good team like O’Gorman.”

Knights coach Derek Robey said switching between man and zone defenses kept the Golden Eagles out of rhythm.

“We were able to implement some zones and some man, and it kind of just kept Central out of rhythm I thought a little bit,” Robey said. “I was really proud of our kids for playing hard.”

O’Gorman led 13-8 after the first quarter and continued to use steals, as well as 3-pointers, to pull away for a 29-13 halftime advantage. The Knights made five 3-pointers in the game, including four in the first half, and they all came at opportune times.

“They did a good job of driving in the lane a few times and getting a kick-out or we wouldn’t be up in the passing lane and they could just easily swing it and get a three off,” Central senior Grant Fritz said.

Despite trailing at halftime, the Golden Eagles continued to battle in the second half, which Norberg expected.

“These guys will do that,” Norberg said. “We’ve got a lot of pride in these guys. We’ve got a lot of seniors. Some guys didn’t play as well as they would’ve wanted to tonight, but they kept coming and they kept fighting and they made some plays in the fourth quarter.”

While O’Gorman built a 45-24 lead after three quarters, the Golden Eagles opened the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run, proving that they were not about to give up.

“You’ve got to have a short memory and keep fighting,” Fritz said.

However, despite several miscues by the road team, the Knights closed the door on any attempts the Golden Eagles had at a comeback.

“We made some foolish mistakes, I thought offensively, even pushing the basketball,” Robey said of the second half. “I think a lot of that’s on me, because I tried to dictate the tempo. We got into just running the clock more than our particular offense, so most of that’s on me trying to not stall a game out, but getting just one look, and I thought by doing so, we didn’t play very good.”

The Knights (5-3) were led by Austin Terveen with 13 points, while Ryland Satter and Caleb Terveen each had 10 points. Satter also collected nine rebounds.

Fritz led Aberdeen Central (5-5) with nine points, while Parker Lemer had seven. Brendan Phillips led the team with six rebounds.

The Golden Eagles will now turn their attention to Thursday’s home matchup against Tea Area.

Norberg said the team will try to make some corrections to prepare for the game.

“Go over what we need to work on and just try to get some confidence back,” Norberg said. “Point out a few things, work on the stuff we weren’t good at, and prepare for them a little bit. A lot of it’s got to be mental; we can’t do too much physical (Wednesday). These guys are experienced guys. We’ll be able to fix it hopefully in one day.”

O’GORMAN (5-3): Ryland Satter 4 2-3 10, Austin Terveen 5 2-3 13, Henry Theobald 1 0-0 3, Nyun Dut 3 0-0 7, Jackson Bjorkman 1 3-4 5, John Lent 0 0-2 0, Caleb Terveen 4 0-0 10, Taten Mauney 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 7-12 50.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (5-5): Oliver Rife 1 1-2 3, Jett Carlson 1 2-2 5, Parker Lemer 3 1-1 7, Camden Fauth 2 0-1 5, Grant Fritz 4 1-2 9, Rylee Rieker 1 0-0 3, Cooper Eisenbiesz 0 2-2 2, Brendan Phillips 1 1-2 3, Cam Olson 0 2-6 2. Totals 13 10-18 39.

O’Gorman 13 29 45 50

Aberdeen Central 8 13 24 39

3-point field goals – C. Terveen (2), A. Terveen, Theobald, Dut; Carlson, Fauth, Rieker. Total fouls – O’Gorman 17; Aberdeen Central 13. Rebounds – O’Gorman 28 (Satter 9); Aberdeen Central 31 (Phillips 6). Turnovers – O’Gorman 11; Aberdeen Central 16. Assists – O’Gorman 5 (Hayden Groos 2); Aberdeen Central 8 (Rife 2, Lemer 2, Phillips 2). Steals – O’Gorman 11 (Bjorkman 3, C. Terveen 3); Aberdeen Central 3 (Rife, Phillips, Olson).