Free throw shooting dooms Eagles, 57-54

Aberdeen Central, after hitting on 16 of 18 freethrows last night, missed 10 freethrows on Saturday in a tough 3 point loss to the Pierre Lady Governors. The Govs used a strong post game to jump out to an early 17-14 first quarter lead, and stretched that to 31-26 at the half. The Eagles battled back to tie the game at 33-33 on a basket by Emily Graf, but that was the best the Golden Eagles could do. The game was within six points the rest of the way, but the Govs never trailed in the game. As the Eagles were stuggling with their freethow shooting, the Govs starting point guard, Melissa Hitchcock made 5 of 6 in the final 58 seconds to help seal the win for Pierre. After a freethrow by Angie Neilson pushed the lead to 56-52, Laura Graf hit a tough driving shot to pull the Eagles to within 56-54 with 11 seconds left. The Eagles, without any timeouts remaining, were unable to stop the clock until the Govs inbounded the ball with 5 seconds left when the Eagles sent Hitchcock to the line. She made the first and missed the second for a 57-54 score, but Jaime Rice's 3 point shot at the buzzer from 25 feet out bounced off the front of the rim. The loss almost assures that Pierre will be the top seed in the district tournament and also virtually eliminates Aberdeen Central from any hope at an ESD title. The Eagles fall to 12-5 on the year, while Pierre improves to 12-4. The last regular season game for the Eagles is next Friday night when the Golden Eagles host probable ESD champ and defending AA champion Yankton.

Boxscore:

Aberdeen Central: Sillman 3 2-2 11, Goodman 2 0-2 4, L. Graf 3 2-4 8, E. Graf 5 0-3 10, Jark 1 0-0 2, Norman 0 2-4 2, Cantalope 3 0-0 8, Burgard 1 5-6 7, Dahlerup 1 0-0 2. Three point goals: Sillman 3, Cantalope 2

Pierre: Neilson 4 8-11 16, Rausch 4 0-0 8, Scheifelbein 6 1-2 13, Hitchcock 1 5-6 8, Hawkins 1 0-0 2, Leurs 2 0-0 4, Unkenholz 2 1-1 6. Three point goals: Hitchcock, Unkenholz

Fouled out: none. Total fouls: Aberdeen Central 16, Pierre 19, Rebounds: Aberdeen Central 26(E. Graf 6), Pierre 25(Rausch 7). Turnovers: Aberdeen Central 13, Pierre 17. JV game: Aberdeen Central (13-2) 60-36 Sophomore game: Pierre 55-25, 9th grade game: Pierre 56-37

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