Gatorade baths are typically reserved for outdoor sports, but Aberdeen Central had an indoor version with what remained of the water bottles after its 84-82 double-overtime win over fourth-ranked Pierre Tuesday night. 

And, frankly, with good reason. Senior guard Spencer Barr – fresh off his career-best 35 points in a win over Brandon Valley on Saturday – followed up with a new career-high and Golden Eagles Arena facility record 51 points, essentially willing his team to the Eastern South Dakota Conference boys’ basketball victory.

“Oh my gosh,” Barr said, water dripping from his uniform after the game. “That was a blast. So much fun.”

Not much that Pierre tried defensively was overly effective against Barr, who drew double teams with the ball and face guarding without it most of the night. Still, the Jamestown University commit drilled 17-of-27 shots from the floor, including 7-of-14 from 3-point range and 10-of-13 from the free throw line.

“If I can make a play, I’ll do it,” Barr said. “But my teammates got me open.”

And while 51 points is nice, Barr was quick to acknowledge the contributions of his teammates. Jett Carlson hit another five 3-pointers, most of them in crucial moments. Carter Dingman had 10 points and four assists, while Cooper Eisenbeisz came off the bench for five points and some big minutes, defensively.

“I know if I get it to (my teammates), they’ll make that shot,” Barr said.

But the night still belonged to Barr, who hit a pair of free throws and a layup just ahead of the buzzer at the end of the first overtime to help force the second extra stanza.

The Governors did not come into the contest firing blanks, however. Lincoln Kienholz, an Ohio State football commit countered with 33 points, four assists and four rebounds for Pierre. Benjamin Heisler added 18 points and 11 boards, and Jackson Edman notched 14 points and eight assists.

Pierre had a chance at the win at the end of the second overtime, but couldn’t get a shot in the paint to fall.

“It’s as much fun as I’ve had in 27 years (coaching),” said Central coach Brent Norberg. “As far as the ups and downs of a game and two kids like Lincoln and Spencer – just phenomenal basketball.”

The win comes just three days after the Golden Eagles knocked off Brandon Valley at home. Central is now 3-6 on the season.

“They are gigantic (wins) for us,” Norberg said. “We’re sitting here after getting blown out in three straight games thinking how are we going to get in the SoDak 16. Then we win two games like this against teams that are going to win a lot of games and have won a lot of games, and that will help your seeding. Now we’re trying to think, how can we get better? Who else can we beat?”

As a team, the Golden Eagles shot 46 percent from the field and nearly 47 percent from long range, but more importantly came up with 12 steals and forced the Governors into 22 total turnovers.

“When you have a kid like Spencer who can do what he can do, and you’ve guys starting to feed off him, we’ve got a chance,” Norberg said. “And if we keep learning to defend and rebound and keep taking care of the ball, you’ve got a chance against anybody. … These guys are fun to coach. They’re just not scared. They’ll compete against anybody. That’s hard to ask of guys who have been getting beat. I think we got beat by 38, 28 and 22 three games in a row, and we come out and play our two best games after that. A lot of high school kids wouldn’t do that. I’m very proud of these guys.”

Central’s win spoiled the homecoming of Pierre coach and Aberdeen Central graduate Brianna Kusler.

“It was a lot of fun,” Kusler said. “That’s why you compete. At the end of the day, one team has to come out on the bottom, and unfortunately for us tonight, that was us. But I think there’s a lot of opportunity for us to grow from this and set ourselves up for success at the end of the season.”

Central will look to keep its streak going next Tuesday, hosting Yankton in a 5:30 p.m. contest.

“It gives us a huge confidence boost,” Carlson said. “We have a lot of young guys. Just one step forward toward where we want to be at the end of the year.”

PIERRE (7-4): Brecken Krueger 1 0-0 2, Lincoln Kienholz 13 3-7 33, Jacob Mayer 2 1-1 5, Benjamin Heisler 9 0-0 18, Jackson Edman 5 4-5 14, Luke Olson 1 0-0 2, Cade Kaiser 3 1-2 8. Totals 34-53 9-15 82.

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (3-6): Carter Dingman 4 0-0 10, Jett Carlson 5 1-1 16, Spencer Barr 17 10-13 51, Cooper Eisenbiesz 2 0-0 5, Grant Fritz 1 0-3 2. Totals 29-63 11-17 84.

Pierre 13 29 50 68 78 82

Aberdeen Central 18 32 55 68 78 84

3-pt FG – Pierre 5-10 (Kienholz 4, Kaiser); Aberdeen Central 15 (Dingman 2, Carlson 5, Barr 7, Eisenbiesz). Fouls – Pierre 18; Aberdeen Central 16. Fouled out – Pierre, Mayer; Aberdeen Central, Karson Carda. Rebounds – Pierre 32 (Heisler 11, Edman 8); Aberdeen Central 28 (Carlson 6, Fritz 5). Assists – Pierre 20 (Edman 8); Aberdeen Central 12 (Dingman 4). Turnovers – Pierre 22; Aberdeen Central 14. Blocks – Pierre 5 (Heisler 2); Aberdeen Central 5 (Fritz 2). Steals – Pierre 5 (Edman 3); Aberdeen Central 12 (Barr 4).