For a half, it appeared that Aberdeen Central was bouncing back.

After a tough loss on the road at Tea Area on Monday night, the Golden Eagles came out scoring on Tuesday night. 

But a strong second-half push from Watertown cut Central’s rebound short, as the Arrows claimed a 55-46 girls’ basketball victory at Golden Eagles Arena.

It was a frustrating result for a Golden Eagles squad that, despite playing a second straight game without starting guard Ayrlie Waldo, had a lot of good things happening in the first half.

Central scored on its first possession of the game and maintained the lead through most of the first half. Watertown tied the game late in the second quarter before Lauryn Burckhard and Caydi Withers hit back-to-back threes to push Central’s lead back to 31-25 at the break.

But the Golden Eagles were unable to sustain that momentum, as Watertown shot even better in the second half than it did in the first. The Arrows finished the game hitting 8 of 15 on 3-point attempts.

“We haven’t shot that well from the 3-point line all year,” said Watertown coach Chad Rhode. “But what we have been doing lately is playing some pretty good inside game with Emery Thury driving to the basket and creating a lot of things in the paint and Avery Munger doing some pretty good things. When you can get that inside-out game and actually penetrate and get our girls the looks that they had tonight wide open, and do it that way, it’s certainly a lot easier.”

A lot of those 3-point attempts for the Arrows were open looks after a drive into the lane.

“I think part of it is when you get a little lead, you get kind of relaxed and it felt like any time we scored, then down on the defensive end, we relaxed,” said Central coach Mikayla Arechigo. “And any time they scored … they turned around and picked up the defensive intensity. That’s kind of frustrating to see.”

The Golden Eagles were also hurt by turnovers, particularly at inopportune times in the second half.

“Too many turnovers at bad times and bad situations,” Arechigo said. “We had too many turnovers when we didn’t have a defensive rotation back.”

Still, Central maintained a competitive edge throughout. Taryn Hermansen, who scored the Golden Eagles’ first six points of the game, finished the night with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Burckhard notched 10 points and nine boards, while Withers had 13 points and five rebounds.

Emma Dohrer, who started her second straight game in place of Waldo, had three points, including a big three in the first half.

“I’m thinking it’s just like any other game,” Dohrer said of getting the nod in the starting lineup. “Trying not to get too much in my head. Ultimately at the end of the day, you’re just going out and playing basketball and having fun.”

Watertown put three players in double figures, but had all five starters finish with seven or more points. Addi Johnston and Thury had 13 apiece, followed by Miranda Falconer with 10, Munger with eight and Jade Lund with seven. The five combined for all eight Arrow 3-pointers.

“To have the balanced scoring like we had tonight, it’s fun to have and it’s much needed for our team,” Rhode said.

Central, with just one win in its last eight games, will need a bit of help to move into the top half of the SoDak 16 standings.

“This one kind of hurts because we really probably needed to win three of our last five games to have a good shot at hosting a SoDak 16 game,” Arechigo said.

The Golden Eagles will look to get back into the win column Friday against Brookings.

“We need to come out and use the feel from this loss and come out Friday and play with something to prove,” Dohrer said.

Friday’s contest will tip at 7 p.m. in Brookings.

WATERTOWN (5-12): Addi Johnston 5 0-0 13, Emery Thury 5 2-3 13, Miranda Falconer 3 2-3 10, Jade Lund 2 1-2 7, Avery Munger 4 0-0 8, Emma Hendricks 0 2-2 2, Andi Olson 1 0-0 2. Totals 20-42 7-10 55.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (9-8): Emma Dohrer 1 0-0 3, Madison Miller 0 2-2 2, Caydi Withers 5 1-1 13, Lauryn Burckhard 3 2-4 10, Taryn Hermansen 8 0-2 16, Kenadi Withers 0 2-2 2. Totals 17-53 7-11 46.

Watertown 12 25 41 55

Aberdeen Central 15 31 40 46

3-point field goals – Johnston (3), Thury, Falconer (2), Lund (2); Dohrer, Withers (2), Burckhard (2). Total fouls – Watertown 11; Aberdeen Central 16. Rebounds – Watertown 21 (Thury 9); Aberdeen Central 40 (Hermansen 11, Burckhard 9). Assists – Watertown 6 (Johnston 2, Thury 2, Falconer 2); Aberdeen Central 9 (Withers 2, Burckhard 2, Ava Yeske 2). Turnovers – Watertown 10; Aberdeen Central 16. Blocks – Watertown 1 (Thury); Aberdeen Central 3 (Burckhard 2). Steals – Watertown 9 (Thury 4); Aberdeen Central 7 (Hermansen 2).