A strong second half could not erase a difficult first half for Aberdeen Central Tuesday evening.

Central erased most of a 20-point deficit before falling to Watertown 60-51 in an Eastern South Dakota Conference boys’ basketball game at Golden Eagles Arena.

“Well, we didn’t come out with very much energy,” said Central coach Brent Norberg. “For some reason, we were very passive offensively and defensively, and we got in a big hole.”

The Eagles defeated Watertown earlier this season, but did not hit the floor with the same type of energy they had the first time they faced the Arrows.

“We just didn’t come out with the energy we had last game when we beat them,” said Central’s Brendan Phillips.

And that lack of energy left the Golden Eagles down 30-14 going into halftime.

In the locker room, Norberg demanded more out of his players, and the Golden Eagles responded in the second half.

“Obviously at halftime, you challenge them. I told them that was the first time all year that I just didn’t think we really brought it energy wise,” Norberg said. “And so, I challenged them and they responded. I give credit to that. That’s good, a lot of teams don’t.”

The Golden Eagles went on a 12-3 run for the first four minutes of the third quarter and found themselves down just seven. Central switched up its defenses, which caused havoc for the Arrows.

“We were playing a single defense, and I think it helps a lot when we switch our defenses,” Phillips said. “They don’t really know what they’re doing and that kind of disrupts their rhythm.”

The switching to a full court press sparked some energy for the Golden Eagles, something lacking in the first half.

“But for us, we did it just so we could play with some more energy, and we just didn’t have it in the half court,” said Norberg. “We tried to change some things up and I know sitting in the stands, you may not see all that stuff. But we tried that to get more energy.”

The defensive spark led to more offensive output as the Golden Eagles scored more points in the third quarter than they did in the entire first half. Colby Dauwen led the offensive charge with a nine-point quarter, shooting 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, and adding a third three in the fourth quarter as well.

“I’ve had a rough stretch here and then those three threes really helped me,” said Dauwen. “I just had to let it fly and then that’s what happened. I guess I made it.”

The Golden Eagles got to within six points as the third quarter was nearing the end, but an offensive rebound gave the Arrows an 8-point lead going into the fourth quarter. And then on the first possession of the final period, another offensive rebound for Watertown led to a kick out 3-pointer, extending the Watertown lead to 11-points in the span of less than a minute.

“Got the ball, I think down to five a couple times, but then we give up an offensive rebound,” said Norberg. “And that was the story of the game, we got hammered on the glass by a team we’re bigger than.”

Back-to-back threes from Dauwen and Phillips got the Eagles back into the game, closing it to five.

Phillips knew he had to step up with the game on the line.

“We just needed some points quick,” said Phillips. “And me being one of the best scorers on the team, I had to put some shots up and hopefully they would fall.”

In the end, the 20-point deficit was too big of a hole to come back from.

Phillips scored 22 points to lead the Golden Eagles. Dauwen finished with 15, and Luke Swanson contributed nine points and eight rebounds.

“We had some good performance in the second half,” Norberg said. “But the problem is when you dig a hole like that, you got to be perfect in the second half.”

Central 2-14 on the season, travels to Brookings for another ESD game on Friday.

WATERTOWN (5-12): Gabe Norberg 2 0-0 5, Mitch Olson 2 2-2 7, Kaden Decker 8 5-6 22, Jackson McClemans 3 0-1 6, Spencer Wientjas 1 1-2 3, Carter Buisker 4 2-2 11, Issac Rehorst 1 2-2 4, Jack Mack 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 12-15 60

ABERDEEN CENTRAL (2-14): Brendan Phillips 9 0-0 22, Luke Swanson 2 5-6 9, Colby Dauwen 4 4-4 15, Jacob Weishaar 0 1-2 1, Jack Bertsch 1 0-0 2, Bryson Burgard 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 10-12 51

Watertown 14 30 41 60

Aberdeen Central 6 14 33 51

3-point field goals – Norberg, Olson, Decker, Buisker; Phillips 4, Dauwen 3. Total Fouls – Watertown 11; AC 16. Rebounds – Watertown 36 (Decker 8); AC 23 (Swanson 8). Turnovers – Watertown 13; AC 8. Assists – Watertown 7 (Decker 2, Buisker 2); AC 6 (Michael Dutenhoffer 3). Steals – Watertown 4 (4 players with 1); AC 9 (Dauwen 2, Burgard 2). Blocks – Watertown 4 (Olson 2); AC 2 (Bertsch 2).