Aberdeen Roncalli faced its tallest task of the season so far Saturday night and was up to the challenge.
The undersized Cavaliers were able to hold their own inside to help fuel a 64-38 non-conference girls’ basketball victory over Northwestern during the Cavalier Classic at Roncalli Gym.
Roncalli, who has just one starter taller than 5-foot-8, had to contend with Northwestern’s 6-2 Adriana Ratigan in the post. The Wildcats consistently fed the junior for layups early on, but Cavaliers were eventually able to slow her down by pressuring the ball on the perimeter.
“That was our goal was to make sure we did a better job of having ball pressure,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson. “Early in the first half I thought our ball pressure wasn’t very good, and that’s why they got the post entries so often.”
The Cavaliers tried a variety of options against Ratigan, including 5-7 sophomore Rylee Voeller.
“I feel like it was really mental for me, to just keep going strong no matter what happened,” Voeller said. “It was really good help from my teammates, cheering me on, and helping me with that side.”
While undersized, Voeller’s physical style and positioning made an impact.
“Just really fronting and trying to deny that pass from behind was a really big part tonight,” Voeller said.
Ratigan said she is not accustomed to having that big of a height-advantage against most teams. She said that fact took a bit of an adjustment.
“It’s kind of hard, especially when they’re smaller ” Ratigan said. “It’s just harder to feel them around, and they’re very strong, especially number 20, Rylee Voeller. She’s a pretty good athlete. I played with her a little bit. She’s strong. It’s just trying to keep it high to keep the little guards from getting it.”
While Roncalli’s defense made Ratigan work for her points, she still ended up with 18 to lead the Wildcats. The Cavaliers attempted to rotate different players to help out on Ratigan, including 5-6 senior Camryn Bain.
“I thought (Rylee) and Camryn both played hard defending in the post, again giving up a lot of size,” Larson said. “Again, they both played as hard as they could have, and they did what we asked them to do.”
In the end, Roncalli’s defense took a toll on the Wildcats, forcing numerous turnovers and forcing the Wildcats to play at a faster pace than what they are accustomed to.
“It was just a really fast game,” Ratigan said. “We haven’t played anybody that was that fast, yet, so that was a good way to get used to it.”
Northwestern coach Jason Sparling knew what his squad was up against heading into the contest.
“I told the girls if we could score 50, we’d probably win the game,” Sparling said. “We didn’t score 50.”
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers found a spot to their liking and worked it throughout the night, helping to produce a game-high 23 points for Ava Hanson and a career-high 12 points for Voeller.
“I thought the high post was open a lot,” Larson said. “I thought Ava Hanson and Rylee Voeller both took advantage of that and had a ton of points from that position, kind of just taking what they could give us.”
Claire Crawford added 11 points to the Roncalli total, nailing three three-point field goals.
“We played pretty good D, but they can shoot the ball,” Sparling said. “They can shoot the ball from the outside.”
While the Wildcats suffered a lopsided setback, Sparling welcomed the opportunity to face one of the top Class A teams in the area.
“This is a team that you want to play every week,” Sparling said. “You want to keep getting better.”
Roncalli plays host to Groton on Tuesday night in what is expected to be another battle between the two rivals.
“I think it’s going to be another very physical game,” Voeller said. “It will be a good mental one with those matchups, especially since we know them and know experience, and it’s going to be a physical one.”
Like Roncalli, the Tigers have also gotten off to a solid start to begin their season.
“They’re having a good year. They play really hard on the defensive end. We’re going to have to be ready to go in the full court,” Larson said. “They really full court for 32 minutes, and we’ll have to get ready for that on Tuesday night.”
NORTHWESTERN (2-1): Breelyn Satter 1 1-2 3, Ashley Haven 2 2-2 7, Adriana Ratigan 9 0-5 18, Ella Boekelheide 0 0-4 0, Tara Blachford 1 0-0 2, Sophia Troske 2 0-0 6, Kyara Ratigan 1 0-0 2. Totals 16-45 3-13 38.
ABERDEEN RONCALLI (3-0): McKenna O’Keefe 2 0-2 5, Camryn Bain 2 0-0 4, Maddie Huber 1 1-2 4, Claire Crawford 4 0-0 11, Ava Hanson 10 2-2 23, Gabby Thomas 1 0-0 2, Morgan Helms 1 1-2 3, Rylee Voeller 4 4-4 12. Totals 25-68 8-12 64.
Northwestern 11 21 34 38
Aberdeen Roncalli 16 33 49 64
3-point field goals – Haven, Troske (2); O’Keefe, Huber, Crawford (3), Hanson. Total fouls – Northwestern 10; Aberdeen Roncalli 16. Rebounds – Northwestern 28 (A. Ratigan 9, Boekelheide 7); Aberdeen Roncalli 30 (Hanson 8). Turnovers – Northwestern 22; Aberdeen Roncalli 9. Assists – Northwestern 13 (Blachford 7); Aberdeen Roncalli 15 (Huber 4, Crawford 3). Steals – Northwestern 4 (Satter 3); Aberdeen Roncalli 14 (Crawford 5, Huber 3).
