HURON – Aberdeen Roncalli’s defense kept things close, but the Cavaliers’ offense was unable to provide enough answers Thursday night at the Huron Arena.
Mount Vernon-Plankinton played with a lead nearly the entire way en route to a 46-40 girls’ basketball win during Class A SoDak 16 action. While Roncalli was able to slice an 11-point deficit down to three in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers were never able to get over the hump.
“We ended up shooting the ball really well in the fourth quarter and to give ourselves a shot,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson. “Then we had to kind of play the foul game down the stretch and they made free throws.”
The Titans did not make a field goal in the final quarter, but made 10 of 16 free throws to maintain the lead.
“Roncalli is a really good team. Having that lead and have it dwindle down, our girls could have went in a shell, but they kept on fighting,” said MVP coach Preston Kristensen. “They’ve battled through adversity all year long, so I’m super proud of them for hanging in there, and ultimately it ended up being a defensively battle. I’m happy the way our girls showed up tonight.”
Trailing 37-26 with five minutes left, Roncalli’s offense came to life as Ava Hanson scored in transition, before Claire Crawford and Maddie Huber made back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the margin to 37-34 with 2:45 remaining. However, the Cavaliers never had a chance to tie the game as MVP made a free throw on its next trip down the floor to make it a two-possession game, and it never got closer than that the rest of the way.
“It would have been nice to make some more timely shots earlier than what we did, but that’s the way it goes,” Larson said. “At the end of the day, we knew that we had to make shots to win and we didn’t make enough shots, especially early to give ourselves a shot.”
Roncalli managed just six points in the opening quarter and then faced an uphill battle the rest of the night.
McKenna O’Keefe, who led the Cavaliers with 17 points, made a trio of three-point field goals to help keep the Cavaliers within striking distance.
“Coach just told us to shoot when we’re open, and so anytime I was open I just shot it,” O’Keefe said. “Tonight, they were just falling, so I just kept shooting.”
However, the Cavaliers could not keep pace with South Dakota State recruit Emilee Fox. The senior poured in 28 points for the Titans, making shots from all over the place.
“She was good at making shots,” said Roncalli’s Camryn Bain. “We just had to defend her and she kept making them, and we were trying to fight our way back and had to put them on the line to get the ball back.”
Fox made six 3-pointers, many from well beyond the three-point line, most times with a hand in her face.
“I thought Maddie Huber did a pretty good job. She guarded her I thought 3 or 4 feet beyond the line … I thought we did a good job in the first half defending her,” Larson said, “and then it just seemed like everything she threw up in the second half went in. That’s why she’s one of the best players in the state.”
That defensive pressure is something that Fox faces each time out, according to Kristensen.
“She’s a focal point when teams play us,” Kristensen said. “Every night she has to put in the work to earn her points, but overall our team’s resilient. They came ready to play and I’m proud of all of them.”
MVP will take on Sisseton in the opening round of the State A Tournament at noon Thursday in Brookings.
Huber and Claire Crawford each had eight points for the Cavaliers, and Hanson finished with seven as Roncalli showed its own resiliency and determination in the setback.
“We’re hard workers and we wanted the win,” Bain said. “Obviously, we didn’t get it, but we’ll come back next year and win it hopefully.”
Bain led the team with four assists and three steals in her final game for the green and gold.
“We just work together as a team and we just work together as one,” O’Keefe said. “Props to Cam for really stepping up and leading us out there, being the only senior.”
The Cavaliers finished the season with a 19-4 record and made it one step farther than last season when they fell in regional action.
“Last year we finished the year 11-10 and we really challenged the kids after that game, are we going to be a year older or are we going to be a year better? I think we can all say that we’re definitely a year better and finishing the season 19-4,” Larson said. “I’m proud of the effort. Obviously, didn’t get to where we wanted to be, but I don’t think we should be disappointed with our season that we had. We should be proud of the season we had, the growth we made, and hopefully we take that next step next year.”
MOUNT VERNON-PLANKINTON (18-5): Reagen Rus 4 4-10 12, Emilee Fox 7 8-10 28, Kyia Schmidt 2 0-0 6. Totals 13-46 12-20 46.
ABERDEEN RONCALLI (19-4): McKenna O’Keefe 6 2-2 17, Maddie Huber 3 0-0 8, Claire Crawford 3 0-0 8, Ava Hanson 3 0-0 7. Totals 15-48 2-2 40.
Mount Vernon-Plankinton 13 22 36 46
Aberdeen Roncalli 6 16 26 40
3-point field goals – Fox (6), Schmidt (2); O’Keefe (3), Huber (2), Crawford (2), Hanson. Total fouls – Mount Vernon-Plankinton 9; Aberdeen Roncalli 18. Rebounds – Mount Vernon-Plankinton 35 (Fox 11, Rus 8); Aberdeen Roncallil 33 (Crawford 8, Hanson 6). Turnovers – Mount Vernon-Plankinton 13; Aberdeen Roncalli 15. Assists – Mount Vernon-Plankinton 5; Aberdeen Roncalli 12 (Camryn Bain 4). Steals – Mount Vernon-Plankinton 9 (Berkeley Engelland 4, Fox 3); Aberdeen Roncalli 8 (Bain 3, O’Keefe 2, Hanson 2).
Looking Back
Looking Back
Women's Basketball
Scoring drought hurts Wolves in setback to Kearney
Cross Country
Traphagen excels in three sports in same season
Cross Country
LRC runners have big day at Region 1B cross country meet
Purchase a Photo
Browse By Category
- Auto Racing (105)
- Baseball (508)
- Basketball (252)
- BMX (1)
- Bowling (69)
- Boys Basketball (697)
- Boys' Hockey (94)
- Columns (52)
- Cross Country (210)
- Curling (1)
- Football (472)
- Galleries (993)
- General (177)
- Girls Basketball (618)
- Girls' Hockey (99)
- Golf (371)
- Gymnastics (69)
- Hockey (139)
- Looking Back (195)
- Men's Basketball (37)
- Men's Basketball (26)
- Mixed Martial Arts (2)
- Podcasts (51)
- Polls (60)
- Powerlifting (2)
- Rodeo (2)
- Roundups (287)
- Running (10)
- Soccer (260)
- Softball (95)
- Special Moments (44)
- State B Notebooks (6)
- Swimming (69)
- Tennis (326)
- Track and Field (493)
- Trapshooting (20)
- Volleyball (782)
- Women's Basketball (53)
- Wrestling (284)
Browse By Month
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021