PIERRE - The Pierre Governors staved off a late rally by Aberdeen Central to keep their boys' basketball season alive for at least one more game after a 55-52 win in the District 3AA third-place game Friday at Riggs Gym.

The Govs' final obstacle to clear for a state tournament berth will be Tuesday when they host Rapid City Stevens. Game time is 7 p.m. CST.

The Govs had beaten Aberdeen Central 59-52 on Jan. 12 at Riggs Gym and 73-71 in double overtime a month later in Aberdeen.

The last time Pierre beat the Golden Eagles three times in one season was the 1983-84 campaign. The Govs looked to be in control with an eight-point lead with under three minutes to play. But it's rarely an easy finish when these two teams meet.

The Golden Eagles cut the deficit to four points on a Jared Hannigan free throw with one minute to go and regained possession when Pierre's Michael Gardner was called for an offensive foul while trying to break the Golden Eagle press. Aberdeen missed two straight shots, but got offensive rebounds each time by Hannigan. Tyler Severson sank a 3-pointer with 31 seconds to go to make it a one-point contest.

That was the last miscue by the Govs. Pierre broke the press and Curry Kuehl fed Matt Tetzlaff for a layup for a three-point Gov lead with 19 seconds to go. That left plenty of time for the Golden Eagles to set up a play and try to send the game into overtime.

But Dillon Gran forced Hannigan into making an off-balance attempt that did not hit iron as time expired.

"Dillon was guarding him for most of the game and did a great job on him," said Kyle Cichos, who led the team in scoring and rebounding. "We didn't let them get a good look and Sean (Melmer) came up with a big rebound."

Pierre, which was beaten badly by Huron, 71-58, in the first round of the district tournament on Tuesday, got off to poor start. The Govs missed eight of their first 10 shots from the field and trailed 13-5 after one quarter. Kyle Cichos, Kuehl and Alan Hyde helped spark the team in the second quarter. Pierre trailed by five with less than two minutes left in the first half, but forged a tie with an 8-3 finish. Cichos and Brian Drapeaux hit four straight free throws in the last 21 seconds for a 23-23 halftime tie.

Cichos had seven of the Govs' nine third-quarter points, including a three-point play with 18 seconds to go that gave the Pierre its first lead of the game at 32-31 going into the fourth quarter.

Cichos scored 10 points in the fourth quarter and finished with a game-high 22. In the three games against Aberdeen, the junior has averaged 16.7 points per game.