Abby Horner’s prayer from beyond halfcourt hurtled through the air as the final buzzer sounded, bouncing off every inch of the rim at least twice and once off the backboard before dropping through the net. Elation for some. Stunned, crushed heartache for others.

Horner’s heave, which left her fingertips just in time to beat the buzzer, lifted Sioux Falls Jefferson to a 57-54 victory over Aberdeen Central Friday night in a wild girls’ basketball SoDak 16 contest at Golden Eagles Arena.

It was a crushing end to Central’s season, particularly after the Golden Eagles fought all the way back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to tie the game in the closing seconds.

“That sucks,” said Golden Eagle coach Paiton Burckhard bluntly. “It hurts, but I am proud of the girls’ will to win and to put themselves in the position that we did tonight.”

While the middle portions of Friday night’s contest seemed to be trending in Jefferson’s favor thanks, in part, to a dose of Golden Eagle miscues, Central was not willing to concede a state tournament berth without a fight. And fight the Golden Eagles did. 

Central cut the lead to five (49-44) with four minutes remaining in the game, then to a single possession less than a minute later on a Kennadi Withers bucket. Emma Dohrer then tied the game at the 2:30 mark, only to have Jefferson’s Brinley Altenburg answer 20 seconds later with her own trey.

A bit of back-and-forth later, Central’s Lauryn Burckhard bounced home a corner three with 18 seconds remaining to make it 54-all.

“You can look at this game, and we made a lot of mistakes that you can’t make at this part of the season, but we stuck together as a team,” said an emotional Taryn Hermansen after the game. “We came together as a team.”

With the score knotted at 54 and the Cavaliers inbounding the ball well beyond half-court with just 1.6 seconds showing on the clock, Jefferson needed the improbable to avoid going to overtime.

They got it in the form of Horner, who took the inbounds pass, dribbled once and let it fly.

“We came so close at the end,” Hermansen said. “You can say that was a lucky shot, but they work hard, too, so if it was our way, I guess it is what it is.”

“We were so close,” echoed Central junior Emma Dohrer. “In the end, it happened for a reason. Everything happens for a reason. We’ve just got to build off that going into next season.”

Central was led by Hermansen’s 21 points and 10 rebounds. Lauryn Burckhard finished with 10 points, while Dohrer and Withers added nine points each.

“I’m super proud (of the team),” Dohrer said. “We got down, we knew we needed to come back, and we knew what we needed to do. We did that. We came back strong.”

“We definitely put ourselves in a position to win that game,” said Coach Burckhard. “As gut-wrenching as that was, I think the way we played tonight was kind of the theme of our season. We put ourselves in some really tricky positions, and we found ways of being able to come back and put ourselves in a position to win.”

Jefferson got 20 points from Horner, none bigger than the final three. Altenburg tallied 15.

With nary a senior on the roster, Central will return its entire roster next season, and Burckhard hopes that, despite the heartbreak of the night, the feeling will fuel the Golden Eagles moving forward.

“Something you have is knowing that we get everybody that’s in this locker room back next year,” Burckhard said. “So don’t just forget this. Let it stick with you and feed you into next year.”

Central ended its season at 11-9 overall. Jefferson, 12-9, will turn its attention to the Class AA state tournament next week in Rapid City.

SIOUX FALLS JEFFERSON (12-9): Abby Horner 7 4-5 20, Peyten Krull 2 1-3 5, Ayleah Johnson 4 0-4 9, Brinley Altenburg 4 4-4 15, Macy Bryant 2 0-0 5, Bree Umbreit 1 0-0 3. Totals 20 9-16 57.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (11-9): Ava Yeske 2 0-0 5, Kenadi Withers 3 3-4 9, Emma Dohrer 3 0-0 9, Lauryn Burckhard 4 0-2 10, Taryn Hermansen 10 1-4 21. Totals 22-52 4-10 54.

Sioux Falls Jefferson 8 32 47 57

Aberdeen Central 10 23 37 54

3-point field goals – Horner 2, Johnson, Altenburg 3, Bryant, Umbreit; Yeske, Dohrer 3, Burckhard 2. Totla fouls – Sioux Falls Jefferson 8; Aberdeen Central 14. Rebounds – Sioux Falls Jefferson 30 (Horner 8); Aberdeen Central 36 (Hermansen 10, Withers 8). Assists – Sioux Falls Jefferson 11 (Horner 5); Aberdeen Central 17 (Dohrer 5, Withers 4, Burckhard 4). Turnovers – Sioux Falls Jefferson 13; Aberdeen Central 16. Steals – Sioux Falls Jefferson 12 (Altenburg 4); Aberdeen Central 2 (Withers 2).