STURGIS, SD – Less than a day after knocking off previously unbeaten Pierre, the Sturgis Scooper boys took out another east river foe, Aberdeen Central Saturday afternoon at West gymnasium, 63-54. The Sturgis girls traveled to Aberdeen and dropped their second game in a row, losing to the Golden Eagles, 55-43.
Aberdeen Central came out firing in the first quarter and led 12-6 with just over two minutes left, until the Scoopers went on an eight point run behind three pointers by Ryan Heinert and Ty Ferguson, giving Sturgis a 14-12 lead after one.
Scooper guard Hayden Rock, coming off a 27-point night against the Pierre Governors, caught fire again, draining three treys, converting three of four free throws and hitting a two-point bucket, scoring 14 points in the second quarter. Heinert sat most of the second quarter with two fouls, but the starting five held strong to extend the Sturgis lead at halftime to 34-29. The Scooper defense forced 10 Golden Eagle turnovers in the first half.
Heinert and Rock continued their hot shooting after intermission, with the duo scoring 13 of the 18 points for the Scoops in the third quarter. Brendan Phillips scored six for Aberdeen Central and Sturgis took a 52-44 lead in to the fourth.
Neither team shot the ball well in the final stanza, with Sturgis making four of 10 shots and Aberdeen Central converting four of 11 and the Scoopers earned their second win in a row, beating the Golden Eagles 63-54
Sturgis (2-1) was led by Rock with 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field. Heinert added 19 points and nine rebounds. The Scoopers had seven three-pointers in the game, with Rock hitting five from long range. Sturgis was 22 of 46 from the field for 47% and 12 of 14 from the free throw line for 85%. The Scoops committed 12 turnovers and had 22 boards.
Aberdeen Central (0-4) shot 19 of 42 from the field for 45% and were led by Phillips with 14 points. The Golden Eagles had 14 turnovers, 17 rebounds and shot 76% from the charity stripe, making 10 of 13 free throws.
No statistics were available for the Sturgis girls contest.
The Scooper boys are in action next on Jan. 3 at St. Thomas More, and both the girls and boys squads travel to Douglas on Jan. 4 for afternoon matinee games.
