The Aberdeen Central girls’ basketball squad used a blazing first half to make up for a much cooler second half Tuesday night, slipping and sliding its way to a 51-36 Eastern South Dakota Conference victory over Watertown at Golden Eagles Arena.

Central scored more points (18) in the first quarter alone than it did in the entire second half (14), but it was the equity the Golden Eagles had built in the first half that sustained them through the rocky portions of the second.

“The first half is how you’ve got to play for 32 minutes,” said Central junior Taryn Hermansen.

Hermansen’s efforts on both ends of the court were a key cog in the Golden Eagles’ first-half success. The 6-foot-2 center had 14 points and eight rebounds by halftime. Six of those eight boards came on the offensive end.

“This is my fourth year playing, and I’ve noticed that if I get on the backside of the boards, it’s a lot easier to get those rebounds,” Hermansen said of her ability to clean up miscues.

Central also had a balanced inside-out scoring effort. Kamdyn Borg started the perimeter attack with a three in the first quarter before Lauryn Burckhard canned a three on back-to-back possessions in the second quarter. Freshman Camryn Albrecht then hit a three just ahead of the halftime buzzer to send the Golden Eagles into the locker room with a 37-15 lead.

And then, Central took its foot off the proverbial pedal.

“We went into halftime ending on a three by Cami, which was awesome,” Hermansen said. “You go in with high hopes, but I think we kind of relaxed some. You’ve got to go finish the game. Otherwise the other team is going to do it for you. … Tonight we (won), but in later games, it’s not always going to happen like that.”

“We’ve talked about this, and we’ll continue to talk about it,” said Central coach Paiton Burckhard. “Our mindset and setting the tone each and every quarter and not going into halftime like, ‘Oh, we’re up by 20 points, second half is going to be easy.’ Uh-uh. That’s not the case, especially with a team like Watertown. Every team is out for blood, especially those ESD teams. There has to be a full 32-minute game. You can’t just come walking in here like we already won the dang thing. Nope, you didn’t. So that mindset and that shift has to happen. We’ll continue to talk about it, and they know (this). It’s one of those things that comes with experience.”

Central’s strong points in the first half seemingly evaporated in the second, as the Golden Eagles struggled to maintain possession of the ball or to create second-chance scoring opportunities, something they did regularly to begin the game.

“I thought in that first half we had a fire under our butt,” Burckhard said. “We were going really hard for those offensive rebounds. We were jumping, but also putting a body on someone boxing out. I just thought that effort piece was so much more apparent than in the second half, and that’s why we had that first half that we did.”

Still, the Arrows were never able to mount a serious comeback campaign, despite forcing 18 turnovers in the second half and holding the Golden Eagles scoreless through the first four minutes and change of the fourth quarter. Watertown was 0-for-17 from 3-point range.

In addition to Hermansen’s 14 points and eight total rebounds, Central got a 13-point, 11-rebound effort from Lauryn Burckhard. Kenadi Withers finished with seven points, and Borge notched six. Albrecht came off the bench for five points.

Watertown was led by Emery Thury’s 16 points. Grace Corey had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Central, now 6-1 overall and winners of five straight games, will host Tea Area on Saturday.

“Going into every game, no matter what our record is, no matter what their record is, you’re going into every game 0-0,” Hermansen said. “Every team is ready to compete, and if you’re not ready, the other team will be and you’re going to end up in a spot you don’t want to be in.”

WATERTOWN (1-5): Emery Thury 3 10-13 16, Grace Corey 4 3-5 11, Kynsee Russell 0 1-2 1, Malia Kranz 1 0-0 2, Jordan Remmers 0 1-2 1, Leyla Meester 0 1-2 1, Madisyn Grimsrud 2 0-0 4. Totals 10-45 16-24 36.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (6-1): Kamdyn Borge 2 1-1 6, Kenadi Withers 3 1-2 7, Emma Dohrer 1 2-2 4, Lauryn Burckhard 4 3-3 13, Taryn Hermansen 5 4-6 14, Ava Yeske 1 0-0 2, Camryn Albrecht 2 0-0 5. Totals 18-47 11-14 51.

Watertown 6 15 23 36

Aberdeen Central 18 37 41 51

3-point field goals – Borge, Burckhard 2, Albrecht. Total fouls – Watertown 20; Aberdeen Central 18. Rebounds – Watertown 29 (Corey 10, Thury 7); Aberdeen Central 42 (Burckhard 11, Hermansen 8). Assists – Watertown 3 (Thury 2); Aberdeen Central 3 (Borge, Withers, Dohrer). Turnovers – Watertown 20; Aberdeen Central 26. Blocks – Watertown 2 (Molly Hendricks, Grimsrud); Aberdeen Central 2 (Burckhard 2). Steals – Watertown 15 (Thury 5, Russell 5); Aberdeen Central 5 (Dohrer 2, Hermansen 2).