Aberdeen Roncalli parlayed a dominant first quarter into a substantial lead late and coasted to a 56-32 non-conference boys’ basketball victory over Potter County Tuesday night at the Roncalli Gym.

The Cavaliers were playing their fifth game in eight days, including back-to-back games to begin the week, but that didn’t appear to be a factor early on for Roncalli.

Maddox Miller drilled a pair of three-point buckets and had 11 points in the opening quarter alone, sparking the Cavaliers to a 20-6 lead. Darwin Gambler took over in the second quarter, and Roncalli’s lead ballooned to 18 points by halftime.

Roncalli coach Dan Gallagher said the opening surge from his team wasn’t a surprise after the Cavaliers were unable to hold a fourth-quarter lead and close out a road victory Monday night at Mobridge-Pollock.

“I think there was a lot of focus,” Gallagher said. “They knew (Monday) night wasn’t who we were. So we really wanted to respond and play hard and play good defense. … We committed to getting five straight stops to start the game and I think we got six or seven, so our guys responded well.”

Still, fatigue did eventually set in both mentally and physically. 

“As the game got going, we kind of went back to some old habits that we’re trying to get rid of,” Gallagher said. “Those are things we just want to bring up and get better at. That will come.”

After Miller’s hot start, the rest of the Cavalier lineup took over. Jayden Munroe finished with 14 points, Gambler with 11, and Caden Shelton with nine, seven of which came in the second half.

“I was pretty tired,” Shelton admitted. “But we’ve got to come out and keep pushing ourselves.”

Shelton buried a corner three in the third quarter, then got a pair of buckets in the lane in the fourth to cap what was an all-around balanced offensive effort.

“Most of us were really mad about how (Monday) night went,” Shelton said. “We were frustrated. So once we had that lead, we knew we couldn’t let up. We had to keep pushing through.”

Ryder Falkenhagen had 14 points to lead the Battlers. Alex Tanner added 11.

Roncalli, 9-4 on the season, will head to Milbank Friday for a Northeast Conference contest.

“It’s going to be nice to actually sit down and say here’s where we can improve, instead of just throwing them to the fire and expecting them to improve,” Gallagher said. “Two days of practice is going to be nice to get us back on our feet and get ready for a solid Milbank team.”

POTTER COUNTY (1-12): Ryder Falkenhagen 6 1-3 14, Jhett Simon 2 0-0 5, Landon Larson 1 0-1 2, Alex Tanner 4 3-5 11. Totals 13 4-7 32.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (9-6): Maddox Miller 5 3-3 15, Caden Shelton 4 0-0 9, Jayden Munroe 6 0-0 14, Brady Weinmeister 1 0-0 3, Darwin Gambler 3 3-5 11, Zane Backous 1 0-1 2, Parker Grieben 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 6-9 56.

Potter County 6 20 30 32

Aberdeen Roncalli 20 38 50 56

3-pt FG – Falkenhagen, Simon; Miller 2, Shelton, Munroe 2, Weinmeister, Gambler 2. Fouls – Potter County 13; Aberdeen Roncalli 11.