It was not easy, but Aberdeen Roncalli came away with its fourth straight victory on Friday night.
The Cavaliers defeated Northwestern 67-53 in non-conference boys’ basketball action at Roncalli Gym by using a strong second half to overcome a halftime deficit.
Northwestern set the tone early in the contest with its 2-3 zone defense, which put constant pressure on the Cavaliers, forcing turnovers which led to scoring opportunities for the Wildcats.
“We knew that’s kind of how they play,” Roncalli coach Dan Gallagher said of Northwestern’s scrappy defense. “They’re a hard-nosed team, they always play with aggression and speed and physicality. They’re well-coached on that side of the ball and they were up to the task tonight. We weren’t able to get a lot of good looks, we weren’t able to make a lot happen. Luckily in that second half, we were able to get some stuff done.”
Northwestern coach Anthony Redman said the Wildcats have been working on improving their defense throughout the course of the season, and liked what he saw from his team in the first half.
“I’m just proud of how these guys just came out with energy and their hands were up,” Redman said. “I was very pleased with tonight’s defense.”
The Wildcats jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Roncalli scored 10 unanswered of its own, including five early points by Keegan Stewart. However, the Wildcats ended the opening quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 11-10.
Stewart said the key for the Cavaliers was getting the ball inside against the smaller Northwestern squad.
“The first half we knew we needed to get inside more,” Stewart said. “When we were getting down there, we were getting fouled or getting easy buckets, so when we were getting down low it helped. We shot really bad from three in the first half, so we knew we needed to get inside.”
The second quarter looked similiar to the first, with both teams exchanging scoring runs. Twice Roncalli built five-point leads at 18-13 and 24-19, but both times Northwestern made comebacks, and eventually led 29-26 at the halftime break.
Wildcats senior Nathan Melius said the defense led to offense in the first half.
“We just moved the ball, I mean, we trusted our guys,” Melius said. “We’re starting to play as a team and just excited to get it going.”
Gallagher needed to rally the Cavaliers during the halftime break to give them confidence in the second half.
“We tried to switch some things up, but for the most part it was just we’re a better team than what we’re playing, get the ball inside on offense, and let things happen from there.”
The Cavaliers answered the call in the second half, beginning the third quarter on a 10-2 run, with Stewart scoring the first seven points of the quarter and Maddox Miller adding a 3-pointer to give the home team a lead it never relinquished. Roncalli led 48-41 after three quarters and outscored the Wildcats 19-12 in the final period to pull away for the win.
The Cavaliers cashed in on 10 3-pointers during the game, including six in the second half.
Stewart led Roncalli with six 3-pointers in the game, while also scoring a game-high 30 points.
The senior said it was a team effort to work to get good looks at the basket during the second-half surge.
“I think we worked together as a team a lot better,” Stewart said. “We were moving the ball around a lot more. We were using a little more of the shot clock to get some good looks, and Miller hit some big shots, (Aiden) Fisher hit some shots, and I hit a few too, and then Parker (Grieben) and Caden Shelton were in there getting rebounds for us, so that was a big help.”
Redman credited Stewart for keeping the Wildcats off balance throughout the second half.
“Give credit to Roncalli and (Stewart), he was hitting some big shots for (them),” Redman said. “You try to stop his momentum by calling all those timeouts, but it’s kind of hard. That’s how they pulled away.”
Melius led the Wildcats with 28 points, while Lincoln Woodring contributed 14.
Northwestern (1-8) will host Groton on Monday. Melius said the team will look at the positives and negatives from Friday’s game and move forward.
“Just got to pick out the positives from tonight, work on our flaws and we’ll be ready to go,” Melius said.
Miller contributed 16 points for the Cavaliers, while Grieben had seven. Fisher and Brody Weinmeister each added six to the total.
Roncalli, now 6-4 on the season, will travel to Hamlin on Tuesday. While he was glad to come away with the win, Gallagher stressed continuing to get better defensively.
“The big thing is just our defense,” Gallagher said. “We want to continue to build that. Tonight, Melius played really well, but we’ve got to be able to stay in front of the ball better, so we’re going to look at ways that we can do that and see if what we’re doing is the best thing for our team. But mostly, it’s just staying in front of the basketball and going from there.”
NORTHWESTERN (1-8): Lincoln Woodring 6 0-0 14, Jack Hansen 1 2-2 4, Dawson Ward 1 0-0 2, Nathan Melius 10 7-7 28, Kayden Drobny 1 0-1 2, Carson Ewalt 1 0-0 3. Totals 20 9-10 53.
ABERDEEN RONCALLI (6-4): Maddox Miller 6 2-5 16, Caden Shelton 1 0-0 2, Keegan Stewart 11 2-2 30, Aiden Fisher 2 0-0 6, Parker Grieben 3 1-2 7, Brody Weinmeister 2 2-4 6. Totals 25 7-13 67.
Northwestern 11 29 41 53
Aberdeen Roncalli 10 26 48 67
3-point field goals – Woodring (2), Melius, Ewalt; Stewart (6), Miller (2), Fisher (2). Total fouls –Northwestern 13; Aberdeen Roncalli 18.
