When the play broke down, a pair of Golden Eagles rose up Friday night.

Aberdeen Central scored on a busted play in the closing seconds of the third overtime to defeat Spearfish 66-64 in non-conference girls’ basketball at Golden Eagles Arena.

Ava Yeske spotted Taryn Hermansen under the hoop for the game-winning basket with seven seconds remaining.

“I passed it, Ava drove and she had a little fumble,” Hermansen said of the sequence. “I was wide open and we’ve been playing together since kindergarten and I think that just really helped. I mean we’re there for each other. We don’t really care who gets the basket, as long as we get the basket as a team.”

Yeske thought she was about to turn the ball over before she located Hermansen.

“We had a play set up and I felt open, so I back-door cut,” Yeske said, “and I thought we were going to turn it over and then I hear Taryn say, ‘Ball’ so I just bounced passed it to her and I was like Oh my god. Thank God.”

While the play did not got exactly as diagrammed, it could not have worked out any better for the Golden Eagles.

“I was like, Ava that didn’t work out how you probably wanted it to, but it turned out perfectly,” said Central coach Paiton Burckhard. “She didn’t freak out. Taryn, once again, was in the right place, right time. She did what she knew how to do and then she finished.”

As a result, Central was able to exact a measure of revenge on the Spartans, who ended the Golden Eagles’ season a year ago.

“This is a redemption game. We went down there last year for Sweet 16 and we lost,” Hermansen said. “You come to our home court. We had a chip on our shoulder and there was no way we were going to give up on each other.”

While Burckhard was not a part of that team, the first-year coach reminded her players of the situation before the contest started.

“I told them coming into this game, I said this is redemption. That carries over. That feeling sticks, so remember that,” Burckhard said. “You were down there, they beat you to go to state, so this is a redemption game. I think you could feel that at the end. They wanted it.”

The Spartans played with an advantage a good share of the game, leading by as many as 11 points at 30-19 with 5:24 left in the third quarter.

However, Central kept chipping away at the lead by getting the ball inside where Lauryn Burkchard and Hermansen did major damage. Burckhard, who finished with a game-high 29 points, scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, and then seven in the three overtime periods. Hermansen had 17 points in the second half and overtimes.

Both teams had chances down the stretch in all three overtimes. The Spartans had a golden opportunity in the final minute of the third overtime, but missed a couple of uncontested shots close to the basket.

“You can’t predict that, and I’ll take it any day,” Coach Burckhard said. “I will take it.”

Jozie Dana scored 26 points and Mya Kochuten added 21 for Spearfish.

Hermansen finished with 19 points and 19 rebounds for the Golden Eagles, and the biggest basket of the evening.

“This one’s the one we have to build off of,” Hermansen said following the marathon victory. “You’re going to have ups and downs, but when you look back as these kind of games, it just keeps you going.”

When asked how you top Friday night’s dramatic finish, Yeske responded, “You don’t. No you don’t. It’s a good feeling, that’s for sure.”

Central, 2-1 on the season, is right back in action at 1:30 this afternoon when it hosts Sturgis.

SPEARFISH (1-1): Adelyn Bouman 1 0-3 2, Jozie Dana 6 12-14 26, Avery Kirk 2 0-0 5, Kate Scharf 1 0-0 3, Mya Kochuten 6 6-8 22, Tiersyn Grubb 2 2-4 6. Totals 18-56 20-29 64.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (2-1): Ava Yeske 0 1-2 1, Kenadi Withers 2 0-0 5, Emma Dohrer 0 1-2 1, Lauryn Burckhard 11 3-3 29, Taryn Hermansen 8 3-4 19, Kamdyn Borge 4 1-2 11. Totals 25-64 9-13 66.

Spearfish 12 24 34 47 54 59 64

Aberdeen Central 11 19 28 47 54 59 66

3-point field goals – Dana 2, Kirk, Scharf, Kochuten 4; Withers, Burckhard 4, Borge 2. Fouled out – Borge. Total fouls – Spearfish 14; Aberdeen Central 21. Rebounds – Spearfish 36 (Dana 7, Kirk 6, Kochuten 6); Aberdeen Central 48 (Hermansen 19). Turnovers – Spearfish 11; Aberdeen Central 17. Assists – Spearfish 2; Aberdeen Central 12 (Yeske 5). Blocked shots – Spearfish 2; Aberdeen Central 3 (Burckhard 2). Steals – Spearfish 8 (Kochuten 3); Aberdeen Central 4 (Hermansen 2).