Aberdeen Roncalli employed a smothering defensive effort to help overcome a faltering start en route to a 61-22 girls’ basketball victory over Webster Saturday afternoon at Roncalli Gym.

The visiting Bearcats jumped out to a 6-0 lead to begin the afternoon, but by quarter’s end, that advantage had vanished in an 11-8 Cavalier lead.

Roncalli held the upper hand from that point forward, pressuring Webster into multiple turnovers with its full-court pressure and building its lead with buckets in transition.

“I thought we got good shots, just didn’t shoot the ball well, especially early in the first half,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson. “Our defense really got us going tonight. Our full-court was really good. Hopefully we can get better on the offensive end and start shooting with a little more confidence going forward.”

Following that opening quarter where Roncalli was getting looks from the paint, the Cavaliers turned to senior guard McKenna O’Keefe, who mastered the lost art of the mid-range baseline jumper to kickstart Roncalli’s offensive efforts.

“I thought McKenna got us going, especially when shots weren’t falling, she was kind of that consistent person that made some baseline jumpshots for us,” Larson said. “It was nice to see. … She’s pretty good at that range of shot. Definitely got us going, and once she made a couple, some other kids got some confidence, as well.”

The Cavaliers also turned to someone whose name doesn’t always show up in the box score in terms of scoring. Freshman Gabby Thomas, who did not score in Saturday’s game, did plenty of other things for Roncalli, including setting the trap on defense and making several assists on offense.

“When I’m not scoring much, I just know that defense is my suit,” Thomas said. ”Defense is my favorite. I just know I have to do well on defense for our offense to succeed.”

Thomas came off the bench for Roncalli, but was plenty active in her minutes. The 5-foot-7 guard was instrumental in the Cavaliers’ ability to apply full-court pressure regardless of whether they made or missed on the offensive end of the floor.

“You’ve just got to be in the right spot,” Thomas said. “It takes a lot of practice, you just have to run and jump.”

“She can really run and jump and gets her hands on so many things,” Larson said.

While Thomas was not part of Roncalli’s scoring efforts, the Cavaliers more than made up for it elsewhere. Ava Hanson led all scorers with 15 points, while O’Keefe finished with 14. Maddie Huber added 12 points, while Claire Crawford had 11.

Webster was led by Erin Sannes with eight points, six of which came in the opening quarter of play. Carrington Hanson had six points for the Bearcats.

Roncalli will head to Sisseton Friday for a stiff Northeast Conference matchup.

“Their size will give us some fits,” Larson said. “They’re a veteran group also. They’ve got some kids coming from the last two state tournament teams and we’ll have to have our ducks in a row before playing them at Sisseton.”

WEBSTER (2-3): Harley Johnson 1 0-0 2, Carrington Hanson 3 0-2 6, Allie Case 1 0-0 2, Erin Sannes 4 0-2 8, Bailee Ninke 1 0-0 2, Lydia Vogl 0 2-2 2. Totals 10 2-6 22.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (5-1): McKenna O’Keefe 6 1-2 14, Maddie Huber 4 4-4 12, Claire Crawford 4 1-2 11, Ava Hanson 7 1-2 15, Morgan Helms 1 3-4 5. Totals 24 10-14 61.

Webster 8 16 20 22

Aberdeen Roncalli 11 31 53 61

3-point field goals – O’Keefe, Crawford 2. Fouls – Webster 11; Aberdeen Roncalli 14.