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Girls Basketball

Cavaliers turn back Florence-Henry in final minute to secure win

Aberdeen Roncalli’s Ava Hanson (22) looks to the basket as Florence-Henry’s Hayley Hlavacek (1) and Grace Kahnke (24) defend during Tuesday night’s game at the Roncalli High School gym. Looking on at far left for the Falcons is Taylor Watson. Photo by John Davis taken 2/13/2024

A fourth-quarter defensive stand proved to be the difference for Aberdeen Roncalli on Tuesday night.

The Cavaliers held off Florence-Henry for a 47-42 non-conference girls’ basketball win at the Roncalli Gym.

With Roncalli leading 45-42 with 50 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, the Falcons called a timeout to set up a potential game-tying play. Florence-Henry coach Mitch Reed described the play design during the sequence.

“We had a play where we were going to get Taylor (Watson) out for a 3-pointer and then have Caylin Kelly seal,” Reed said.

However, the Cavaliers defense was up to the task, sniffing out the play and forcing Watson to pass the ball off to Kelly, whose errant shot was partially blocked by Roncalli’s Ava Hanson.

“We were doing our play, it was really physical, and I tried (to shoot), and they just had too much pressure and I couldn’t get an open shot,” Watson said of the play.

Hanson said she noticed the Falcons’ play design and trusted herself and her teammates to do their jobs to get the stop.

“I knew they set up their motion and I knew instantly they were running a set for Kelly,” Hanson said. “If you know that your teammates are going to guard their own girl and you’re going to guard your girl, then you’re fine. Just playing good solid defense is how you win games, and that’s what we did tonight.”

After Florence-Henry scored the first five points of the contest, the Cavaliers raced back to grab a 16-11 lead after one quarter, thanks in part to 10 points from Hanson, who took charge of the team, motivating her teammates to settle into the game.

“Personally, I took charge, and I figured out what we could do differently,” Hanson said. “I started screening more, getting open, our offense started to shift a little more. We were kind of standing there, so just getting open and moving, and then running some sets, it helped a lot.”

Meanwhile, the Falcons struggled to be consistent on offense despite using an aggressive defense that kept them in the game by forcing the Cavaliers into turnovers and difficult shots.

“We’re a defensive team and our offense comes,” Reed said. “We’ve got to hit some shots. Teams are game planning to put a foot in the lane and they do a good job of it, and they’re daring us to shoot. We fixed it in the second half, that’s why we made it a game.”

Florence-Henry fought back, cutting the Roncalli lead down to 29-27 in the third quarter, but 3-point baskets by Hanson and Claire Crawford stretched the Cavaliers lead back to eight.

“We obviously hit some big shots,” Roncalli coach Derek Larson said. “I thought we shot the ball with confidence tonight, and that’s something we’ll still need to do going forward.”

Aberdeen Roncalli’s Maddie Huber, center, moves to the basket past Florence-Henry’s Reese Schmidt, left as the Falcons’ Taylor Watson, far right, looks on during Tuesday night’s game at the Roncalli High School gym. Photo by John Davis taken 2/13/2024

Again, the Falcons cut into the lead, pulling to within four, but another Crawford 3-pointer gave the Cavaliers a 38-31 advantage heading into the final period.

Crawford, who also made a late free-throw to help seal the win, said it took confidence to knock down the clutch shots.

“I felt good in warm-ups, and hit some good shots in the game, so it’s easy to keep shooting,” Crawford said.

Despite several attempts in the fourth quarter, Florence-Henry never could find the exact formula to complete the comeback, as Roncalli’s eight 3-pointers proved to be too much compared to just two Falcon threes.

“We get a scout together and we say that we’ve got to run them off the 3-point line,” Reed said. “We started doing it in the second half. We started making them put it on the floor, make decisions, and speed them up a little bit and they turned the ball over a little bit more. It was our game plan, I mean, they made (eight) threes and we made two. I don’t care how well we play, when you differ that, that’s what you end up with.”

Kelly finished with a team-high 14 points for the Falcons, while Reese Schmidt finished with 12, and Watson had 11. Florence-Henry (15-4) caps off its regular season at home against fourth-ranked Sisseton on Thursday.

Watson said the Falcons will need to play as a team against the Redmen.

Florence-Henry’s Taylor Watson, right, puts up a three-point shot attempt as Aberdeen Roncalli’s Rylee Voeller, far left, tries to close out during Tuesday night’s game at the Roncalli High School gym. Looking on for the Falcons is Caylin Kelly (33). Photo by John Davis taken 2/13/2024

“We’re going to have to bring our defense and just play together,” Watson said.

Hanson and Crawford each made three 3-pointers, with Hanson scoring a game-high 19 points, while Crawford finished with 10. Aberdeen Roncalli (16-3) will play at Deuel on Thursday.

Larson said his team will need to be prepared for the Cardinals.

“Deuel’s a much better team than they have been in the past,” Larson said. “They’re well-coached. Coach (Luke) Andersen does a good job for them. His daughter Josie is a good basketball player and they’ve just been playing a lot more solid basketball then they have in the past. They really play hard and we’ll definitely have to be prepared. It’s a game we don’t want to look past, looking forward to the postseason.”

Crawford stressed continuing to keep building momentum late in the season.

“Got to keep the pedal to the metal and keep the momentum going into postseason,” Crawford said.

FLORENCE-HENRY (15-4): Haley Hlavacek 0 1-4 1, Taylor Watson 3 4-4 11, Reese Schmidt 2 7-10m 12, Caylin Kelly 6 2-2 14, Ashlynn Vavruska 2 0-0 4. Totals 13 14-20 42.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (16-3): McKenna O’Keefe 0 2-2 2, Camryn Bain 2 1-1 6, Maddie Huber 3 1-5 8, Claire Crawford 3 1-2 10, Ava Hanson 8 0-0 19, Rylee Voeller 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 5-10 47.

Florence-Henry 11 20 31 42

Aberdeen Roncalli 16 27 38 47

3-point field goals – Watson, Schmidt; Crawford (3), Hanson (3), Bain, Huber. Total fouls – Florence-Henry 11; Aberdeen Roncalli 11.

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