After Zach Hanson had scored 26 and 30 points in Pierre's previous two meeting with Aberdeen Central, the Governors looked to Hanson early and the Creighton recruit delivered.
"We made them score points a different way," said Central coach Brent Norberg. "Hanson only had 10 points with a few minutes to go. We did a better job on him and they went to the other player (Lane Severyn)."
Hanson finished with 12 points and Severyn led all scorers with 20.
Hanson scored eight points in the first half and his passing enabled the Governors to get good looks throughout the half. After sharing the wealth on the offensive end, the senior dominated on the other end in the second half. Hanson grabbed eight rebounds and had several blocks in the win.
"Zach did a lot of things for us," Governors coach Terry Becker said. "He's had some big games offensively against Aberdeen, so they really tried to shut him down and crowd him. Zach made a lot of good plays for us. He made a few baskets; he was a rebounder and a shot blocker. He can affect the game in so many ways when he's active like that. It was nice to see him get other people opportunities and we were able to make them pay."
Aberdeen Central got off to a poor start offensively. The Golden Eagles scored on their opening possession but didn't score again for nearly five minutes in the first quarter, allowing the Governors to jump out to a 10-2 lead.
The Golden Eagles' shooting woes continued for the majority of the contest as they shot just 25 percent from the field in Tuesday's contest.
"We were able to get good shots in the first half and in the third quarter; we just weren't able to make them," Aberdeen Central coach Brent Norberg said. "You have to give them credit because they made shots and that was the difference."
The Golden Eagles were effective at getting into the paint and creating offense, allowing them to stay within striking distance with the score at 26-18 going into the halftime break.
The Governors pulled away in the second half after Severyn got into a scoring streak. Severyn didn't score in the first half outside of two early 3-pointers but he erupted in the third quarter with nine points. Severyn finished with 20 points and six rebounds.
"Lane hit a couple shots early but then he got cold," Becker said. "We told him to start taking it to the rim a little more and he started to get into that flow. It was good for Lane to work that out and it gives him more confidence as we move toward Friday."
With Severyn shouldering the load offensively, the Governors were able to put the hard-working Golden Eagles away in the second half.
"They tried to stay in the game; teams won't give up in the playoffs, so you have to fight it out," Becker said. "Our kids did a good job of putting them away. I thought we started to show signs of what we are accustomed to seeing out of our guys in the third and fourth quarters."
The Golden Eagles put up a fight, but their offensive woes and Pierre's sheer size ultimately proved to be too much.
"We have to make shots and we just didn't. I thought our kids played incredibly hard," Norberg said. "We were outmanned size-wise everywhere and we fought hard. We played well enough defensively but we just didn't offensively."
Braden LeGrand topped Aberdeen with 12 points and Brady Mohr had eight. The Golden Eagles will face elimination Friday when they travel to Mitchell to take on the Kernels.
"We lost the game and we have to move on. That's what tournament-play is all about, we just have to practice the next two days and go out and play," Norberg said.
The District 3AA title game between Pierre and Huron begins at 7 p.m. at Riggs High School in Pierre.
ABERDEEN CENTRAL: Josh Hilgemann 2-10 0-2 4, Carter Paulson 0-2 0-0 0, Braden LeGrand 5-11 0-0 12, Brady Mohr 3-10 2-2 8, Jacob Goehring 2-14 0-0 5, Trey Vilhauer 0-1 0-0 0, Isaac Jones 1-3 0-0 3, Logan LeGrand 1-4 2-4 4, Jordan Leidholt 0-2 0-0 0, Jacob Carrels 0-1 0-0 0, Brock DeGroot 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 15-60 4-8 38.
PIERRE: Garrett Pochup 3-3 0-0 7, Austin Christopherson 1-7 0-1 2, Nick Rabern 1-4 0-0 3, Lane Severyn 8-15 1-2 20, Zach Hanson 6-10 0-1 12, Erin Severyn 1-3 1-2 4, Carson Eisenbeisz 0-1 1-2 1, Cody Honeywell 0-4 0-0 0, Brevin Kaiser 1-5 4-4 6, Cooper Walton 1-2 4-4 6. Totals 22-54 11-16 61.
Aberdeen Central (5-14) 9 18 31 38
Pierre (15-5) 15 26 46 61
3-point field goals - Aberdeen 4-19 (Hilgemann 0-5, B. LeGrand 2-3, Mohr 0-3, Goehring 1-5, Jones 1-2, Carrels 0-1); Pierre 6-18 (Pochup 1-1, Christopherson 0-4, Rabern 1-3, L. Severyn 3-7, E. Severyn 1-1, Honeywell 0-2). Fouled out - None. Total fouls - Aberdeen 13; Pierre 12. Rebounds - Aberdeen 35 (B. LeGrand 8); Pierre 46 (Hanson 8). Turnovers - Aberdeen 12; Pierre 11. Assists - Aberdeen 1 (L. LeGrand 1); Pierre 14 (L. Severyn 4). Steals - Aberdeen 5 (B. LeGrand 2); Pierre 6 (L. Severyn 3). Blocked shots - Aberdeen 0; Pierre 3 (Hanson 2).
District 3AA Boys' Basketball
Tuesday's Results
Pierre 61, Aberdeen Central 38
Huron 63, Mitchell 53
Friday's Games
Championship Game
No. 2 Huron (15-6) at No. 1 Pierre (16-5), 7 p.m.
Third Place Game
No. 4 Aberdeen Central (5-15) at No. 3 Mitchell (5-16), Corn Palace, 8 p.m.
