RAPID CITY – It was a day of mixed results for Aberdeen Central during the second day of the West River Invitational tennis event in Rapid City on Friday.

The Golden Eagles defeated St. Thomas More 6-3, before falling to Rapid City Christian 7-2.

“I thought we played really well against St. Tommy,” said Central coach Trent Kurtz, “and I thought that Rapid City Christian match should have been about a 5-4 dual one way or the other.”

The Golden Eagles went 2-3 in tiebreakers on the day. Kurtz would like to see his players be on the winning side of that equation.

“Especially the second match of the day against Rapid City Christian, just couldn’t figure out how to win a close one,” Kurtz said, “until the very last match when Dawson (Pederson) came from way down to come back and win a close match. A good way to finally get one and end the day well.”

Pederson was involved in a pair of tight singles matches on the day, winning both of them in tiebreakers.

Kurtz said the two matches were completely opposite, with the freshman leading in the one against St. Thomas More and then fighting back against his foe from Rapid City Christian.

“He’s up 7-2 and the next thing you know it’s 8-8,” Kurtz said of the STM match. “In the past that’s a spot where he just folds and he’d be too upset. He ends up winning a big deuce point at 8-8 and then closes out that match. And then his second match, he gets down 5-0. … He just wasn’t competing very well and then he just kind of turned it around, won a couple games, and then things got going a little bit and he just kept fighting and battling, and a good way to cap the weekend for us.”

Kurtz noted that the Golden Eagles had a tough time in doubles as the squad went 2-4 in those six matches on the day.

“We’re struggling in doubles right now. We’ve got to play doubles a little better. We’ve got some guys who are more suited for singles, but we’ve got to put some time in and one, we’ve got to figure out our double rotations and double lineups and where we’re going to kind of end up with things,” Kurtz said, “but two, we just gotta get better at doubles. Right now we’re not putting points away up at the net. We’ve got to get comfortable at being more aggressive, and it’s just not suiting our doubles style right now.”

Still, Kurtz pointed out that it was a productive weekend for the Golden Eagles, who went 2-2 in the event and gained some momentum to start the season.

“Really happy with where we are,” Kurtz said. “We’ve got a good, solid baseline set. … We’re way further along than we were at this point last year, so overall there’s a ton of good things.”

Central is scheduled to host Milbank on Tuesday afternoon, weather permitting.

Aberdeen Central 6, St. Thomas More 3

SINGLES

AJ Prehn, AC, def. Michael Levine, 10-7.

Andrew Levine, STM, def. Mika Dannen, 10-6.

Dawson Pederson, AC, def. Elliot Huxford, 10-8.

Gustavo Carrera, AC, def. Oliver Huxford, 10-4.

Aric Tennant, AC, def. Anthony Herrera, 10-9 (7-3).

Leyton Horning, STM, def. Gannon Pederson, 10-9 (7-4).

DOUBLES

Prehn-Carrera, AC, def. M. Levine-A. Levine, 10-3.

E. Huxford-O. Huxford, STM, def. D. Pederson-Tennant, 10-6.

Dannen-G. Pederson, AC, def. Herrera-Horning, 10-6.

Rapid City Christian 7, Aberdeen Central 2

SINGLES

Henry Beckloff, RCC, def. AJ Prehn, 10-7.

Cain Schaefers, RCC, def. Mika Dannen, 10-1.

Dawson Pederson, AC, def. Ethan Palmer, 10-9 (7-5).

Gustavo Carrera, AC, def. Hudson Selfridge, 10-4.

Leyton Kenner, RCC, Aric Tennant, 10-8.

Matthew Suomala, RCC, def. Gannon Pederson, 10-9 (7-4).

DOUBLES

Beckloff-Schaefers, RCC, def. Prehn-Carrera, 10-7.

Palmer-Selfridge, RCC, def. D. Pederson-Tennant, 10-9 (7-4).

Kenner-Ethan Fischer, RCC, def. Dannen-G. Pederson, 10-6.