It could not have been scripted much better for Aberdeen Central Thursday at Moccasin Creek Country Club.

The Golden Eagles, led by a stellar round from Olivia Braun, ended up winning by team championship by a single stroke during the Hub City Invitational, their only home meet of the season.

Central edged Mitchell on the final holes to claim the team crown with a total of 322. The Eagles had a lead, lost it, and then surged in front after all of the players had concluded their rounds.

“You have to finish the golf meet,” said Central coach Kim Zimmerman. “Regardless of how bad or how good you’re doing, you have to put your stamp on it. It’s never over until it’s over.”

Braun definitely put her stamp on the meet shooting a one-under par 71 despite less than ideal conditions.

“I hit my irons very well today,” Braun said. “I hit a lot of fairways and stuff, so it was easy to hit the greens, which was really nice. That’s kind of what you want to do when it’s really windy out.”

While Braun experienced a couple of rough holes, the sophomore was able to stay away from big numbers by figuring out the wind.

“I think there’s always that advantage of playing your home course,” Braun said. “I just kind of played the wind as I thought it was going to take my ball, and it kind of worked out.”

Braun won the individual title by five strokes with a remarkable round considering the elements.

“That is a great round on a quiet, calm day out here, let alone you factor in 30 mile an hour winds gusting to 40 at times, standing over your ball, standing over your putt,” Zimmerman said. “It is pretty incredible to think that she went out and played as well as she did. It’s a credit to her.”

While Braun was the “leader in the clubhouse” being the first one off the course, the team title was definitely up for grabs.

Zimmerman noted that most of the time the players don’t know exactly how their teammates are doing. He said he routinely talks to his team about not giving up, because every stroke matters.

“It’s very important to stay grounded and committed, and just never really give in,” Zimmerman said, “because you don’t know if we have to use our fifth golfer as our tiebreaker.”

The tourney marked the third time this spring that Central, Mitchell and Watertown have had photo finishes to determine team titles.

“I kind of foresee that happening all year. Watertown won the first one, Mitchell won the second one, we won the third,” Zimmerman said. “It’s pretty much going to be a dogfight, I think. It’s a matter of who gets one or two golfers hot during the course of the year.”

On this occasion, it took a total team effort from the Eagles, who had just one golfer among the top five places, but five golfers among the top 12 spots.

Zimmerman said that Central is getting contributions from everyone on the team, which not only came into play on Thursday, but is key going forward.

“I’ve had teams already where you know that it’s pretty much four. You’re playing six, but you pretty much know that four that you’re going to score, and there’s no room for error,” he said. “And good teams need that extra player too, if somebody stumbles a little bit, has a hiccup, there’s a chance.”

Emma Dohrer finished seventh, with teammates, Kyley Wirebaugh, Morgan Jones, and Chloe Vikander in 10th, 11th, and 12th, respectively.

It was a fitting final home tourney for Jones, the lone senior on the Central squad.

“It’s quite a battle in winds like this, so to come away with the win, especially at our home course, home tournament, it’s a big deal,” Jones said. “We’ve been struggling to beat out Mitchell at a few tournaments and Watertown, I guess, so to get it done today is really good.”

Central has finished runner-up in the past three state tournaments, so the Eagles would like to change that this time around.

“We’ve had three seconds in a row now, so hopefully we can improve, all of us, on whatever we need to improve on,” Braun said, “and hopefully we’ll see some results soon.”

Jones is coming off a state championship with the Aberdeen Cougars hockey team this past winter. She said golf is a bit more challenging than hockey.

“I’d say hockey is probably easier, at least for me,” Jones said, “It’s not nearly as much of a mental battle.”

Part of that mental battle in golf includes much more than just trying to decide which club to use. Because no two courses are alike, players are always having to adjust their games.

“That’s part of the mental battle, is trying to get your yardages and then do some mental math, try to factor in the wind, if it’s a colder day, usually don’t hit it as far, a warmer day usually you get a little more distance,” Jones said. “Just trying to think through all of that mid-round, there’s probably not many other sports like it in that aspect.”

Olivia Mikkelsen of Potter County finished 18th to lead a group of area golfers who also competed in the meet.

Central now has a week off before playing in a tournament at Huron on Thursday, and then competing at an event in Yankton on Friday.

In the meantime, the Golden Eagles will get a little time to savor what transpired at Moccasin Creek Country Club.

“I told them to go out and enjoy the day,” Zimmerman said. “We only have one home meet a year, embrace the moment.”

Team Points: Aberdeen Central 322, Mitchell 323, Watertown 331, Mobridge-Pollock 442, Potter County 447. Incomplete: Pierre.

Individual Results:

1, Olivia Braun, Aberdeen Central, 71; 2, Maddie Childs, Mitchell, 76; 3, Shelby Pearson, Watertown, 78; 4, Allison Meyerink Mitchell, 78; 5, Quinn Dannenbring, Mitchell, 79; 6, Avery Palmquist, Watertown, 80; 7, Emma Dohrer, Aberdeen Central, 82; 8, Gabi Olson, Watertown, 83; 9, Hadley Hart, Pierre, 83; 10, Kyley Wirebaugh, Aberdeen Central, 84;

11, Morgan Jones, Aberdeen Central, 85; 12, Chloe Vikander, Aberdeen Central, 89; 13, Mia Larson, Mitchell, 90; 14, Ava Eliason, Mitchell, 90; 15, Aspen Reynolds, Watertown, 90; 16, Natalie Pearson, Watertown, 91; 17, Anna Eliason, Mitchell, 93; 18, Olivia Mikkelsen, Potter County, 95; 19, Annie Mosteller, Pierre, 96; 20, Carighan Kaltt, Watertown, 101;

21, Claire Heil, Mobridge-Pollock, 102; 22, Neva Mikkelsen, Potter County, 102; 23, Kylie Herman, Aberdeen Central, 106; 24, Arienna Mound, Mobridge-Pollock, 107; 25, Brooke Schlomer, Mobridge-Pollock, 109; 26, Braden Bieber, Potter County, 117; 27, Becca Cox, Mobridge-Pollock, 124; 28, Skighe McCann, Mobridge-Pollock, 125; 29, Greta Goebel, Potter County, 133.