The fifth-rated Arrows led from almost start to finish and survived a number of surges by Aberdeen Central to post a 68-59 Eastern South Dakota
Conference victory in the Civic Arena.
Watertown improved to 8-3 overall and 6-2 in the ESD with its fourth straight victory. Aberdeen Central fell to 3-8 and 2-5.
"At home, we've got off to some pretty good starts, but we haven't shown the ability to put teams away," said Watertown head coach Brian Norberg. "You'd like to be able to put people away, but I think other teams adjust. You have to give credit to the other team sometimes."
The Arrows played extremely well Tuesday in a home victory over Sioux Falls Washington and appeared to be headed for a similar result Friday. After
Aberdeen Central's Carter Paulson scored the first four points of the game, Watertown answered with 11 straight points during a 16-2 spurt.
Watertown held a double-digit advantage for much of the first half, but led only 34-28 when Brady Mohr scored at the buzzer for the Golden Eagles.
"The early scoring drought hurt us," admitted Aberdeen Central head coach Brent Norberg, the older brother of Watertown's head coach. "For us to be down only six, we felt pretty good going in at halftime."
The Golden Eagles' chances faded away in the third quarter when the Arrows regained control by scoring nine of the first 13 points. Watertown scored 20
points in the period and increased the lead to 54-39. Aberdeen Central never got closer than nine points in the final period.
"We know there are some inconsistencies in our game on both ends of the floor. I still keep seeing things that we can do better each game, but I also see things we're improving on each game," said Brian Norberg. "Again tonight, I thought we shared the ball really well. I just think right now it's very hard to focus on one thing with our offense."
Senior guard Tanner Heiser and senior forward Landen Mack provided much of Watertown's offense. Heiser scored 21 points and Mack 10. Junior Trevor
Jutting added 10 for the Arrows, who made 24 of 54 field-goal attempts for 44 percent and used Mack's seven rebounds to gain a 37-30 advantage on the
boards.
For the Golden Eagles, it was another gutsy effort that went for naught. Senior Brady Mohr led the Golden Eagles with 19 points. Senior Braden LeGrand, who battled foul trouble in the first half, and Paulson, another senior, added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Sophomore Jacob Goehring snared five rebounds.
Aberdeen Central shot 43 percent (21 of 49).
"For kids to work that hard, they should get some wins too and that's what we 're trying to do," said Brent Norberg.
VARSITY
ABERDEEN CENTRAL: Carter Paulson 5-15 0-1 10, Braden LeGrand 5-6 0-0 12, Josh Hilgemann 1-3 3-4 5, Brady Mohr 6-13 5-5 19, Aaron Lorenz 2-3 0-0 5, Isaac Jones 0-1 1-2 1, Jacob Goehring 0-3 2-2 2, Tyler Block 0-1 0-0 0, Logan LeGrand 1-1 0-0 2, Brock DeGroot 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 21-49 12-16 59.
WATERTOWN: Cole Julius 0-1 0-2 0, Logan Gabriel 0-1 0-0 0, Nate Davis 1-4 1-2 3, Landen Mack 7-13 6 9 20, Tanner Heiser 7-12 3-4 21, Trevor Jutting 4-8 0-0 10, Jesse Poppen 0-3 0-0 0, Brody Ries 2-3 0-0 6, Marcus Gravatt 2-7 2-2 6, Harrison Jones 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 24-54 12-21 68.
Aberdeen Central (3-8) 14 28 39 59
Watertown (8-3) 20 34 54 68
3-point field goals - LeGrand 2, Mohr 2, Lorenz, Heiser 4, Jutting 2, Ries 2. Total fouls - Aberdeen Central 20; Watertown 20. Rebounds - Aberdeen Central 30 (DeGroot 5, Goehring 5); Watertown 37 (Mack 7). Turnovers - Aberdeen Central 11; Watertown 11.
JUNIOR VARSITY
ABERDEEN CENTRAL: Isaac Jones 1-4 2-2 5, Jacob Goehring 2-9 0-0 4, Tyler Block 5-8 1-4 11, Logan Stubbe 1-1 0-0 3, Jesse Babcock 1-2 0-0 3, Trey Vilhauer 0-2 0-0 0, Matt Melemseter 1-2 1-2 3, Logan LeGrand 3-5 3-3 10, Tevin Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Brock DeGroot 2-7 0-0 4, Jordan Leidholt 3-3 0-0 6. Totals 19-45 7-11 49.
WATERTOWN: Cole Julius 2-3 0-0 4, Logan Gabriel 3-8 6-10 15, Nate Davis 1-4 2-3 4, Nate DeSpiegler 0-0 4-4 4, Mark DeSpiegler 2-2 3-4 8, Conner Fransen 1-2 2-2 5, Jordan Terronez 5-7 3-4 15, Eric Gauer 3-3 0-0 6, Hunter Wookey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-30 20-27 61.
Aberdeen Central 13 24 35 49
Watertown 13 35 47 61
3-point field goals - Jones, Stubbe, Babcock, LeGrand, Gabriel 3, DeSpiegler, Fransen, Terronez 2. Fouled out - Jones, DeGroot. Total fouls - Aberdeen Central 21; Watertown 14. Rebounds - Aberdeen Central 23 (Block 7); Watertown 25 (Terronez 5). Turnovers - Aberdeen Central 15; Watertown 14.
SOPHOMORE
ABERDEEN CENTRAL: Jesse Babcock 2-3 1-2 5, Logan Stubbe 3-11 1-5 8, Matt Melemseter 1-4 1-4 3, Tevin Johnson 2-5 0-0 4, Kaden Peterson 2-14 0-0 6, Micah Reierson 0-0 1-2 1, Anthony Bachmeier 1-5 0-0 3, Layne Tieszen 1-3 1-2 3, TJ Allam 0-1 2-2 2, Lincoln Flakus 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 14-48 7-17 39.
WATERTOWN: Elliot VanWell 1-5 0-0 2, Taylor Lindahl 5-11 0-3 11, Nate DeSpiegler 6-7 0-0 12, Hunter Wookey 1-5 1-2 3, Isaiah Soucy 6-11 6-7 18, Landon Pahl 1-5 0-0 2, Mitch Tschakert 1-3 0-0 2, Bailey VanSickle 0-2 0-0 0, Bryce LeBlanc 1-1 0-1 2, Michael Keogan 0-1 3-5 3, Drake Rust 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-52 10-18 55.
Aberdeen Central 12 26 31 39
Watertown 15 28 41 55
3-point field goals - Stubbe, Peterson 2, Bachmeier, Lindahl. Total fouls - Aberdeen Central 17; Watertown 12. Rebounds - Aberdeen Central 30 (Stubbe 4, Flakus 4); Watertown 44 (Koegan 8). Turnovers - Aberdeen Central 8; Watertown 10.