WATERTOWN – Aberdeen Central was right where it wanted to be before its offense dried up Thursday night.

The Golden Eagles led unbeaten Watertown by 10 points in the the third quarter, but managed just 11 second-half points, falling to the Arrows 53-39 in an Eastern South Dakota Conference girls’ basketball game.

“Watertown is a very well coached team,” said Central coach Mikayla Arechigo. “They are very disciplined and relentless on defense.”

The Arrows cranked up their defense and the Eagles watched their double-digit lead turn into a double-digit deficit.

Watertown outscored Central 15-6 in the third quarter and 16-5 in the fourth.

“We are still searching for some depth from our bench that will allow us to play at the pace we want,” Arechigo said, “and with that comes issues with reads and timing. We have an uphill climb ahead of us, but as we get kids healthy and playing more minutes together, those things will come.

Kendall Paulson led the Arrows with 18 points. Jaida Young added 14 and Maddy Rohde contributed 11.

The Eagles were led by Kiana Mounga with 14 points and eight rebounds. Kyra Griese followed with 13 points.

Central, 1-5 on the season, plays at Sioux Falls Washington on Tuesday.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL: Karly Wellman 1 0-0 2, Abby Berry 1 0-0 2, Kiana Mounga 5 4-5 14, Taryn Hettich 1 1-4 3, Kyra Griese 4 5-6 13, Sydney Evans 1 0-0 2, Taryn Hermansen 1 1-2 3. Totals 14-39 11-17 39.

WATERTOWN: Grace Ortmeier 0 1-3 1, Maddy Rohde 3 2-4 11, Jaida Young 4 6-7 14, Kendall Paulson 6 5-5 18, Miranda Falconer 1 0-2 2, Grace Carey 0 1-2 1, Jade Lund 2 1-2 6. Totals 16-43 16-25 53.

Aberdeen Central 8 28 34 39

Watertown 9 22 37 53

3-point field goals – Rohde 3, Paulson, Lund. Total fouls – Aberdeen Central 21; Watertown 21. Rebounds – Aberdeen Central 32 (Mounga 8); Watertown 25 (Young 6). Turnovers – Aberdeen Central 12; Watertown 8. Steals – Aberdeen Central 3 (Hettich 2); Watertown 11 (Young 4).