A new era of Aberdeen Central girls basketball is ushered in by a familiar presence.

Former Golden Eagle standout turned South Dakota State star Paiton Burckhard returns to Golden Eagles Arena this season in her first year at the helm of the Central program.

And while this was not the avenue she envisioned her coaching career to take, neither is she adverse to it.

“I never once in my head was like my goal in life is to go back to Central and be the girls head coach,” Burckhard said. “That wasn’t my end-all, be-all. … But when it popped up, I was like, ‘Huh.’ A couple things came about, and here I am.”

Burckhard and the Golden Eagles tip off the season this weekend with a pair of games in Rapid City. With three weeks of practice under their proverbial belts, Burckhard said the initial vibes are positive.

“Every day I leave, I’m happy about it, so I think that’s a good sign,” she said. “I think everything has been going well.”

The Golden Eagles enter the season with nary a senior on the roster and just 21 players in grades 9 through 12. Still, Burckhard has seen enough from her squad to have high expectations from her group.

“They’ve all been very motivated and they all work hard every single day,” Burckhard said. “There’s a lot of new stuff that I’m throwing at them. I’m like, hey, I don’t know if this is going to work, but we’re going to try it, or this drill might be rough, but they’ve been so flexible and ready to learn, which has been awesome to see and work with.”

Central’s junior class is headlined by front court running mates sophomore Lauryn Burckhard – the elder Burckhard’s younger sister – and junior Taryn Hermansen, who will be counted on for points, minutes and size.

But, Burckhard said, that’s not the whole of the Golden Eagle offense.

“Obviously yes, we want Taryn and Lauryn to score,” Burckhard said. “That’s our strong points right there, but what do we do when teams take that away? Our guards have the ability to shoot the ball, to drive and kick and to be ready to shoot, but they’re not confident or they’re thinking, ‘Oh, I’ll throw it in to Lauryn or Taryn.’ Well, that’s not how we’re going to make it to the state tournament. We have to have girls that are willing to step up and be confident. Yes, size is something, but if you’ve got a will to win, that carries you a long way. I’ve been telling the girls, you have to be confident and you have to know that you’re supposed to be out there, otherwise you’re going nowhere.”

That group of guards includes returners Ava Yeske, Emma Dohrer, Kenadi Withers, Kamden Borge and Ashlyn Behrends, most of whom saw some level of court time last season.

And, it’s a group that can get up and down the floor, Burckhard said. 

“We have girls that can run the floor,” she said. “We have really athletic girls; every single girl in our program is super athletic, so we have the ability to be like that, but that just wasn’t the style of play they’ve ever played at the high school level. So getting them used to that – that’s the bread and butter right there. That’s how I’ve always known basketball. That’s been a little bit of an adjustment, but they’re so athletic and they’ve caught on really quickly and it’s been fun to see.”

Central’s measure of success might be found in its ability to evolve as the season goes on, perhaps even more so than the number of wins. Burckhard referenced Duke head women’s basketball coach Kara Lawson as someone from whom she draws inspiration.

“She has this motivational video about how to handle hard better,” Burckhard said of Lawson. “You often say, well after this, it will get easier. That’s never true. Things never get easier, you just learn how to handle hard better. So that’s going to be our motto for the season, how to handle hard better. Nothing’s going to get easier as the season goes on. Teams are going to be more familiar with you, they’re going to watch more film, they’re going to figure out how to shut us down, you’re going to be tired at the end of a long season, all those things. So can we handle those better as things get harder? I think they took that seriously.”

That mentality will play heavily into the team’s ability to stay fresh, especially with just 21 high school girls in practice and a change in defensive strategy – man-to-man defense.

“At the beginning of the season, we’re going to have to figure out rotations and who works well and best together at one time, but also who’s going to be able to go and give us good minutes and we don’t have a huge dropoff,” Burckhard said.

Central begins its season tonight at Rapid City Central before taking on Rapid City Stevens Saturday afternoon. The Golden Eagles will debut at home on Dec. 20 against Spearfish and Dec. 21 hosting Sturgis.