Roosevelt, No. 1 in Class AA, ran past Aberdeen Central 86-65 at Golden Eagles Arena in a non-conference boys' basketball game. The Rough Riders are now 14-0 against South Dakota teams. Roosevelt's lone loss of the season was against Marshall, Minn., 67-51 this past Friday.
"At Marshall, we didn't play nearly as good as we can," Roosevelt senior Lucas Wilber said, "but coach (Lee Taylor) was telling us to come out and play as hard as you can. I think we did that tonight."
Wilber was one of four Roosevelt players to score in double figures on Tuesday. He scored 12 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. Brandon Boggs and Nate Cole scored 17 points apiece. Tyler Howard added 15 points for Roosevelt, which played 16 players on Tuesday.
"They come at you in waves and they keep coming," Aberdeen Central coach Brent Norberg said. "They just keep putting in fresh bodies. They are tough defensively."
And they are tough offensively as well; it was Roosevelt's sixth time scoring at least 80 points or more this season.
The Golden Eagles hung right with the top-ranked class to start the game. Aberdeen Central bolted out to an 8-2 lead, highlighted by a pair of Brady Mohr three-pointers.
"We executed some sets early and Brady got open and knocked them down and then defensively we were pretty solid," Norberg said. "We were able to run and handle their pressure early."
It didn't last long. Roosevelt went on a 9-2 run to go ahead 11-10. Sioux Falls led 17-15 after the first quarter. The Golden Eagles kept it close midway through the second quarter and trailed only 32-27 with under three minutes left before halftime. The Rough Riders then closed the first half on a 10-3 run to take a 42-30 lead into the break.
"I thought in the second quarter I stayed in the zone too long," Norberg said, "I probably should have gotten out of it sooner."
Sioux Falls maintained a double digit lead the rest of the second half en route to the win.
"To start the second half, we were up 12 and we got it to 20 like that," Wilber said.
The Rough Riders forced 23 Central turnovers and had 12 steals on the night.
"A lot of our turnovers lead to layups and really quick baskets," said Wilber, who added four steals. "That is how we can get some of these high numbers on offense. Tonight, we did that really well."
Central's Aaron Lorenz paced Central with a game-high 19 points and Mohr added 15 points. Lorenz and Mohr combined to make six of the Golden Eagles' 10 three-pointers. The sharpshooting duo made all six of the treys in the first half.
"They pretty much live and die by the three," Wilber said. "They are going to hit a few because that is how they play and they did that first half."
Carter Paulson added 12 points for the Golden Eagles. Aberdeen Central (5-12) will play at Brandon Valley on Saturday and will host Pierre next Tuesday for its last two games of the regular season.
"We are going to have to play better Saturday to get a win against a very good Brandon team down there," Norberg said.
VARSITY
SIOUX FALLS ROOSEVELT: Jeremiah Clark 1-4 2-2 5, Tyler Howard 6-8 2-2 15, Brandon Boggs 8-13 1-1 17, Nate Cole 5-12 5-5 17, Lucas Wilber 4-7 4-4 12, Trevon Moody 0-2 0-0 0, Chris Phillips 1-1 3-4 5, Ryan Leslie 0-0 1-2 1, Colton Kooima 3-6 2-2 9, Josh Kirkwold 1-3 1-2 3, Ogyedh Tor 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 30-57 21-24 86.
ABERDEEN CENTRAL: Josh Hilgemann 2-2 2-2 7, Carter Paulson 4-8 4-4 12, Braden LeGrand 2-4 1-1 6, Brady Mohr 5-12 2-2 15, Aaron Lorenz 8-11 0-1 19, Isaac Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Jacob Goehring 1-5 0-1 3, Jacob Carrels 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 23-45 9-11 65.
Sioux Falls Roosevelt (16-1) 17 42 64 86
Aberdeen Central (5-12) 15 30 45 65
3-point field goals - Roosevelt 5-14 (Clark 1-2, Howard 1-2, Cole 2-4, Moody 0-1, Kooima 1-4); Aberdeen 10-19 (Hilgemann 1-1, LeGrand 1-2, Mohr 3-6, Lorenz 3-6, Jones 0-1, Goehring 1-2, Carrels 1-1). Total fouls - Roosevelt 18; Aberdeen 21. Fouled out - Hilgemann. Rebounds - Roosevelt 31 (Wilber 14); Aberdeen 20 (Mohr 5). Assists - Roosevelt 16 (Clark 5); Aberdeen 12 (Hilgemann 5). Blocks - Roosevelt 1 (Wilber 1); Aberdeen 0. Steals - Roosevelt 12 (Wilber 4); Aberdeen 3 (Paulson 1, LeGrand 1, Lorenz 1). Turnovers - Roosevelt 11; Aberdeen 23.
Sioux Falls Roosevelt 61
Aberdeen Central 35
Junior Varsity Game
ABERDEEN CENTRAL: Trey Vilhauer 5, Isaac Jones 6, Jordan Leidholt 4, Jacob Carrels 8, Brock DeGroot 2, Jesse Babcock 4, Jacob Goehring 2, Tevin Johnson 4. Totals 13-38 7-10 35.
Sioux Falls Roosevelt 14 32 50 61
Aberdeen Central 9 23 31 35
Rebounds - Central 19 (Leidholt 4).
Sioux Falls Roosevelt 55
Aberdeen Central 43
Sophomore Game
ABERDEEN CENTRAL: Logan Stubbe 2, Jesse Babcock 7, Kaden Peterson 12, Matt Melemseter 16, Layne Tieszen 2, T.J. Allam 2, Lincoln Flakus 2. Totals 15-41 7-13 43.
Sioux Falls Roosevelt 15 28 41 55
Aberdeen Central 15 25 34 43
Rebounds - Central 24 (Tieszen 4).
Aberdeen Central 62
Sioux Falls Roosevelt 58
Freshman A Game
ABERDEEN CENTRAL: Tavis Allam 14, Layne Tieszen 8, Anthony Bachmeier 12, Nick Goeman 20, Cole Martens 6, Conner Preston 2. Totals 26 8-11 62.
Sioux Falls Roosevelt 12 26 38 58
Aberdeen Central 15 31 47 62
Aberdeen Central 59
Sioux Falls Roosevelt 49
Freshman B Game
ABERDEEN CENTRAL: Cole Martens 5, Conner Preston 5, Branston Meier 2, Logan Leidholt 2, Joseph Wollman 5, Thomas Krueger 13, Mason Trapp 5, Gabe Swanson 2, Lucas Heier 12, Jake Heinert 8. Totals 26 4-10 59.
Sioux Falls Roosevelt 6 18 30 49
Aberdeen Central 22 33 45 59