Aberdeen Central could have succumbed on Saturday.

After a triple-overtime victory over Spearfish, the fifth-ranked team in the state less than 24 hours prior, conditions were prime. But the Golden Eagles prevailed, fending off a fourth-quarter lull to pull off a 55-43 girls’ basketball victory over Sturgis at Golden Eagles Arena.

Avoiding that letdown was definitely part of the pregame message from head coach Paiton Burckhard.

“When we talked this morning, we said (Friday) night was awesome, but we’ve got to build off it,” Burckhard said. “That doesn’t mean anything if we can’t win today and we can’t turn around and still be a good team the next day.”

Sophomore Lauryn Burckhard did her part, particularly in the first half, to not let that happen, scoring 12 of the team’s 15 points in the first quarter and accounting for all but 11 of the points by halftime.

“We had to go in with the same mentality (as Friday), to play as hard as we can to get the two wins,” Lauryn Burckhard said.

The Golden Eagles stretched their lead to more than 20 points by the third quarter, eventually getting more people involved in the scoring portion of the offense while forcing 19 turnovers by Sturgis on the defensive end.

“We just knew we had to carry that momentum over to today,” said Central junior Emma Dohrer. “We had to play together and play as a team and we just had to fight through all the fatigue and tiredness. Really, we had to want it.”

Central ended up with six players in the scoring column, led by Burckhard’s career-best 33 points. The versatile sophomore was 12-for-20 from the field, including 2-for-4 from long range.

“Just playing with an open mind and not pre-determining anything I’m going to do,” Burckhard said of her mindset on the offensive end of the floor. “When Taryn (Hermansen) is in, working on the outside, get some shots up. But when she’s out, just working in the post.”

“She had a really good weekend,” Coach Burckhard said. “I don’t know what she’s eating for breakfast, but I want her to keep eating it, because she had a great weekend. It’s fun to see her gain that confidence.”

Central’s big lead, however, did not prove as insurmountable as it may have seemed. Sturgis took advantage of a fourth quarter letdown and whittled the gap back down to single digits with just under two minutes left in the game.

“We fell victim to losing a little bit of interest,” Paiton Burckhard said. “We felt that 25-point lead, and we relaxed. That’s something we really harped on. You can’t relax. You’re always moving and there’s always a second option, and we just lost a little bit of interest there, which caused that little run there in the fourth quarter.”

The Golden Eagles pulled it together in the game’s final two minutes, however, and pushed the lead back out to double digits to secure the weekend sweep.

“We weren’t very happy at the end,” Lauryn Burckhard said. “We were up 25 and only ended up winning by (12). We came out with the win, and that’s where we have to keep our heads up. After (Friday) we were pretty exhausted and sore, and we just let our guard down, which we shouldn’t do.”

In addition to Burckhard’s big scoring game, the Golden Eagles got six points each from Hermansen and Dohrer. Hermansen also secured eight rebounds, while Burckhard had seven boards and four steals. Dohrer notched a half-dozen assists.

Sturgis was led by Leigha Long’s 11 points, the lone Scooper in double digits. Addy Kossler had seven points and five rebounds before fouling out of the contest. Olivia Vliem also came in off the bench for seven points.

With the weekend sweep, the Golden Eagles will go into the holiday break sporting a 3-1 record.

“We’re feeling great,” Dohrer said. “We came out and got redemption (Friday) night and today we just stuck with it. We played good, but obviously when we come back from Christmas break, we still have to work on stuff.”

Central will resume play Jan. 4 when it heads to Yankton to begin Eastern South Dakota Conference play.

STURGIS: Tori Williams 1 1-2 5, Avreigh Long 2 0-2 4, Leigha Long 4 1-6 11, Kierra Killinger 2 2-2 6, Addy Kossler 2 2-2 7, Arina Dee Haugen 0 2-2 2, Avery Marler 0 1-2 1, Olivia Vliem 2 2-2 7. Totals 14-41 11-20 43.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (3-1): Ava Yeske 1 1-2 4, Kenadi Withers 1 1-2 3, Emma Dohrer 1 4-6 6, Lauryn Burckhard 12 7-8 33, Taryn Hermansen 2 2-2 6, Kamdyn Borge 1 0-0 3. Totals 18-46 15-20 55.

Sturgis 13 21 28 43

Aberdeen Central 15 30 47 55

3-point field goals – L. Long 2, Kossler, Vliem; Yeske, Burckhard 2, Borge. Fouled out – Kossler. Totals fouls – Sturgis 20; Aberdeen Central 19. Rebounds – Sturgis 32 (Killinger 6, L. Long 5, Kossler 5); Aberdeen Central 32 (Hermansen 8, Burckhard 7). Assists – Sturgis 3 (Williams 3); Aberdeen Central 12 (Dohrer 6). Turnovers – Sturgis 19; Aberdeen 11. Steals – Sturgis 8 (Williams 2, Marler 2); Aberdeen Central 6 (Burckhard 4). Blocks – Sturgis 1 (Vliem); Aberdeen Central 1 (Burckhard).