Each time Aberdeen Central nudged the door open Thursday night, Sioux Falls Washington slammed it shut.

The Warriors turned back numerous Central come back attempts down the stretch to pull out a 72-66 non-conference boys’ basketball win at Golden Eagles Arena.

It appeared that Washington was on the verge of putting the game away several times in the closing minutes only to have the Eagles battle back. However, Central was never able to get over the hump.

“There were a couple of times they could have folded the tent and they didn’t do that. That’s something that I kind of expect out of them, because that’s the kind of kids they are,” said Central coach Brent Norberg of his players. “I wasn’t surprised, but it’s always kind of good to see as a coach. They just kept coming, always believed until the end, so I’m proud of them for that.”

Washington coach and Langford native Jeff Tobin was also proud of the way his players responded to the numerous challenges thrown their way.

“We have a young group and we want to play in ball games like that. It’s fun to play in an atmosphere like this where they’re playing well, they’re making shots, they’re coming back time and time again, and then you’ve got to find a way to make another play ourself to kind of get that lead back,” Tobin said. “We were really happy down the stretch with some of the plays we made, hustling all over the floor, and gritting one out really in a foreign place.”

The Warriors owned a 64-56 lead with just over two minutes left and ran an out of bounds play that resulted in a layup attempt. Central’s Parker Lemer soared to block the shot, then nailed a 3-pointer seconds later to slice the margin to five points.

After Washington converted a conventional three-point play on a nifty interior pass, Central’s Grant Fritz had his own three-point play and then scored seconds later off a turnover to slice the deficit to 67-64 with 1:05 left. However, that was a close as the Eagles could get as the Warriors scored five unanswered points to put the game out of reach.

“Defensively, we just have to take away the easy ones, the transition layups, like back cuts for layups, but again, they hit a couple of tough shots,” Lemer said. “It is what it is. It’s just a good shooting team, but to get over that hump we defensively have to take away the easy ones.”

Those easy ones occurred when the Warriors found players cutting along the baseline for backdoor layups. Tobin said that was part of the game plan.

“We told our guys you can’t come up here to Aberdeen and try to just think you’re going to make 10-plus 3’s,” Tobin said, “so we’ve got to get the ball to the rim somehow, and luckily we did that.”

Samuel Baskin and Thomas Hoffman each scored 17 points to pace Washington.

Norberg was pleased with his team’s defensive effort which ended up creating 17 turnovers, however, the Warriors got away a few too many times on the interior.

“They’re tough to guard because they’re so perimeter oriented coming off ball screens, dribble handoffs,” Norberg said, “and then I think at times you just get caught up on help side watching that and we just caught behind us a couple of times and it hurt us.”

While Central struggled from the field in the opening half when it fell behind by seven points, the Eagles kept the pressure on Washington the entire second half, thanks in part to six three-point field goals as well as their own looks inside.

“We probably played our best complete game offensively,” said Lemer, who led the team with 20 points and six rebounds. “In the second half, we found the bottom of the net, which helped a lot. We got our offense going.”

Jett Carlson added 13 points, Fritz finished with 11, and Brendan Phillips contributed 10 off the bench as Central placed four players in double figures.

“I thought we were aggressive. I thought we were moving. We weren’t stationary,” Norberg said. “Guys were moving the ball and putting it on the floor, and then as guys were putting it on the floor, moving to it and making good plays with it.”

The Eagles, 4-3 on the season, play at Sioux Falls Lincoln on Saturday afternoon. Norberg expects the Patriots to come out with a lot of pressure defense.

“They’re good. A lot of pressure full court the whole game, so we’ll have to handle the ball,” Norberg said. “If we take care of it, we’ve got a shot, if we don’t, it’s going to be tough.”

SIOUX FALLS WASHINGTON (4-3): Samuel Baskins 8 0-2 17, Thomas Hoffman 6 2-2 17, Brenna VerHey 5 1-1 11, Lucas Johnson 2 4-4 8, Aidan Brooks 1 0-0 2, Lubab Kambalo 2 0-0 6, Raik Chol 0 2-2 2, Jhace Woods 4 0-0 9. Totals 27-53 10-15 72.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (4-3): Oliver Rife 0 3-6 3, Jett Carlson 5 0-0 13, Parker Lemer 7 3-5 20, Camden Fauth 2 0-0 5, Brendan Phillips 4 0-0 10, Grant Fritz 5 1-2 11, Cam Olson 2 0-0 4. Totals 25-62 7-13 66.

Sioux Falls Washington 9 34 50 72

Aberdeen Central 9 27 46 66 3-point field goals – Baskin (3), Hoffman (3), Kambalo (2); Carlson (3), Lemer (3), Fauth, Phillips (2). Fouled out – Fritz. Total fouls – Sioux Falls Washington 12; Aberdeen Central 16. Rebounds – Sioux Falls Washington 37 (Johnson 9, Hoffman 8); Aberdeen Central 35 (Lemer 6, Fritz 5). Turnovers – Sioux Falls Washington 17; Aberdeen Central 13. Assists – Sioux Falls Washington 13 (Hoffman 5, Johnson 4); Aberdeen Central 16 (Fauth 4, Cooper Eisenbeisz 4). Blocked Shots – Sioux Falls Washington 4; Aberdeen Central 5. Steals – Sioux Falls Washington 8 (Hoffman 7); Aberdeen Central 10 (Phillips 3).