BRITTON – Aberdeen Roncalli came out with a little extra motivation on Friday night and returned to its winning ways.
After falling short earlier in the week against Hamlin, the Cavaliers were determined to get back in the win column in a 60-21 Northeast Conference girls’ basketball victory over Britton-Hecla.
“We talked about that before the game. We didn’t finish the game against Hamlin on the right note,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson. “We talked about how we should be eager to play a game just because of how poorly we played in the second half. Hamlin, give them a lot of credit, they outplayed us the second half, so we were excited and hungry to play tonight.”
The Cavaliers set the tone in the opening seconds as Claire Crawford scored just five seconds into the game and Roncalli was off and running.
Roncalli owned an 8-5 lead before scoring 17 unanswered points to open up a 25-5 advantage in the middle of the second period.
“I thought we did a pretty good job both ends of the floor,” Larson said. “When we moved the basketball on offense and didn’t stand and hold it and it didn’t stick in people’s hands, I thought we looked really good.”
Meanwhile, Roncalli’s defense was back to form, holding the Braves to just five points in the opening quarter and one point in the final quarter.
“Defensively, definitely kind of just played the way we should play,” Larson said, “did a pretty good job denying passing lanes early, kind of frustrated them a little bit in the half court.”
The Cavaliers rested Camryn Bain who is nursing an ankle injury. Rylee Voeller took her spot in the lineup and responded with 14 points.
“Rylee played a phenomenal game,” Larson said. “I thought played well on the defensive end, played well on the offensive end, kind of took advantage of more minutes, shot the ball well.”
Claire Crawford led a balanced scoring attack with 17 points for the Cavaliers. McKenna O’Keefe and Ava Hanson each contributed nine.
Sterling Brassfield topped Britton-Hecla with a dozen points.
Roncalli, 10-2 on the season, has a busy week ahead. The Cavaliers play at Tiospa Zina on Monday, at Milbank on Thursday, and then head to the Dak XII-NEC Clash in Madison next Saturday.
ABERDEEN RONCALLI (10-2): McKenna O’Keefe 3 2-2 9, Maddie Huber 1 0-0 3, Claire Crawford 7 0-0 17, Rylee Voeller 5 4-5 14, Ava Hanson 4 0-0 9, Gabby Thomas 2 1-2 5, Ava Danielson 1 0-0 3. Totals 23 7-9 60.
BRITTON-HECLA (4-9): Sterling Brassfield 4 4-8 12, Tiyanna Schott 2 0-2 4, Addison Wade 0 2-2 2, Heather Storbakken 0 1-2 1, Karlie Zuehlke 0 0-2 0, Daynika Zuehlke 0 1-2 1, Koryn Jones 0 1-3 1. Totals 6 9-21 21.
Aberdeen Roncalli 20 34 53 60
Britton-Hecla 5 13 20 21
3-point field goals – O’Keefe, Huber, Crawford (3), Hanson, Danielson. Total fouls – Aberdeen Roncalli 13; Briton-Hecla 12. Rebounds – Britton-Hecla 25 (Brassfield 6, Jayden Bender 5).
