Given the opportunity to draw closer into the Evergreen 2A Conference boys basketball postseason race, Aberdeen came out hot against Tumwater at Sam Benn Gym.

However, the T-Birds stayed close and used a first-half closing run to fly away from the Bobcats, 71-53, on Friday night.

Tumwater senior guard C.J. Geathers drove the visitors with a game-high 29 points. Senior Ben Dublanko led Aberdeen (1-5, 3-12) with 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

“Our defensive effort, especially in league, has been our strong point,” AHS head coach Mark Beckman said. “However, I felt the energy wasn’t there tonight when they made their run. Early on, we had the opportunity and the momentum, but we were unable to sustain it. Overall, they got us.”

While Aberdeen’s strength this season has come on the defensive side of the court, its offense started this contest hot and ready.

Four of the Bobcats’ nine 3-point conversions (one each from Dublanko, Austin Timmons, Giovanni Pisani and Jeshua Manwell) came in the opening quarter, pushing their lead to 16-9 late in the frame.

An up-tempo offense benefited Aberdeen early before Tumwater (3-3, 6-9) adjusted to climb back into the contest.

Tumwater closed to within three at the end of the first on Geathers’ drives to the basket. However, Aberdeen pushed its lead back up to five early in the second.

With the pace fast and furious, the T-Birds used Bobcat turnovers into points to stay close.

“Right now, for whatever reason, we played faster on offense than we wanted to and wasn’t as patient as we talked about,” Buckman said. “We wanted to work through the shot clock. When we started pressing on offense, making bad passes and dribbling into double teams, they capitalized on them and we didn’t know what to do when the chips were down.”

On a Geathers transition basket, the visitors tied the game at 26-26 with 2:37 left in the first half. From there, Tumwater ended the half on a 13-2 run to take a lead it would not relinquish, 37-28.

Tumwater used its perimeter shooting over Aberdeen’s defense to extend its lead. The Bobcats got to within 11 at several points in the second half, but no closer.

On Tuesday, Aberdeen stays home to greet Black Hills.

Tumwater 15 22 16 18 — 71

Aberdeen 18 10 11 14 — 53

Tumwater (71) — Williams 15, Geathers 29, Fields 2, Koelsch 2, Jones, Bell 5, Gilliland 5, Gaither 11, Peterson 2, Murphy. FG — 26-55 (.472). FT — 8-11.

Aberdeen (53) — Manwell 9, Barragan, Bojorge 7, Dublanko 21, Pisani 6, Shale 3, Timmons 3, Elrod 2, Farrer, Tinnell 2. FG — 18-46 (.391). FT — 8-21.

Aberdeen’s Jeshua Manwell drives by a Tumwater defender Friday. Manwell scored nine points for the Bobcats. (Brendan Carl Photography)