Clark-Willow Lake used balanced offense, disciplined defense and solid rebounding to secure a win in a battle of rated Class A girls’ basketball teams at the Roncalli Gym Thursday night.

The ninth-rated Cyclones jumped in front early and never trailed after that on the way to a 50-38 Northeast Conference victory over eighth-rated Aberdeen Roncalli.

The Cyclones took away Roncalli’s transition game early and forced the Cavaliers to operate in the half court.

“Gosh, it’s a really good win for us, and I think we haven’t played anyone like them yet,” said Clark-Willow Lake coach Andrea Begeman.

Roncalli struggled to find rhythm on the perimeter, finishing 14-of-50 from the field and 3-of-17 from three-point range. Clark-Willow Lake packed the paint and challenged shots inside.

“We have three six-foot girls and our guards are good,” Begeman said. “If we can funnel them to one of our taller girls, they can get those blocks.”

Offensively, Clark-Willow Lake relied on balance and patience, with sophomore guard Kamryn Nesheim leading the way with 14 points. She also had three assists.

“We lost to them by six last year,” Nesheim said, “so it’s good to come back and get this win.”

Nesheim was able to drive past defenders, get into the lane and finish off scoring opportunities.

“I used my head fakes and teammates so I can create opportunities off of them,” Nesheim said.

The Cyclones outrebounded Roncalli by seven. Shelby Begeman hauled down 13 rebounds and also had a team-leading six assists.

Clark-Willow Lake also was able to handle Roncalli’s pressure defense.

“They definitely are really good ball handlers, and they know what they’re doing for sure,” said Roncalli’s Gabby Thomas, who finished with six steals. “They’re really young, but they were really prepared.”

With Roncalli’s offense mostly limited to half-court offense, the Cavaliers were forced to find open shots instead of producing points in transition.

“A lot of our offensive points come in transition on defense,” said Roncalli senior Claire Crawford. “We couldn’t really find a rhythm on offense, I guess. We weren’t really getting a lot of shots to fall.”

That lack offense only compounded the issue against the Cyclones.

“When you don’t hit open looks, it’s tough to win … We got to be better offensively and make those shots,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson said.

Again, the Cavaliers were forced to grind out offense, instead creating turnovers that usually lead to transition opportunities.

“We score a lot of points in transition, but definitely didn’t get a ton of those today,” Larson said. “We got to be better at half court.”

Clark-Willow Lake owned a nine-point halftime advantage and extended it to 22 points after the third quarter.

“As bad as we played, we were only down by nine,” Larson said, “but we just couldn’t build momentum and couldn’t create multiple scores.”

Clark-Willow Lake had four players in double-figure scoring. The Cyclones put pressure on Roncalli with dribble penetration and breaking down the defense.

“When they get to the rim, we just gotta guard our girl individually, so we don’t have to sink off as much from the post or the outside always,” Crawford said. “That makes it easy for them to kick to the open person and score in other ways, so we just got to stop our own girl.”

The Cyclones improved to 10-1 on the season. Begeman said there is still room for improvement.

“I think we’ve got to do a little better job on offense,” she said, “like setting screens and cutting hard to the basket.”

In addition to Nesheim, Brynn Roehrich had 13 points, Johanna Vandersnick 11, and Jenny Bevers 10 for the Cyclones.

Nesheim noted a couple of areas that the team can focus on.

“I feel like our mental toughness and playing hard all the way through could use some work,” Nesheim said.

Roncalli, now 9-2 on the season, hosts Groton on Tuesday for another NEC contest.

“Their whole team is really good on defense,” Thomas said. “We just have to be prepared. I think our offense just has to be on that night.”

CLARK-WILLOW LAKE (10-1): Shelby Begeman 0 2-2 2, Johanna Vandersnick 5 0-0 11, Kamryn Nesheim 5 3-5 14, Jenny Bevers 2 4-6 10, Brynn Roerich 4 5-8 13. Totals 16 14-21 50.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (9-2): Gabby Thomas 5 0-2 11, Morgan Helms 0 1-2 1, Claire Crawford 5 0-0 11, Karsyn Davis 0 2-2 2, Rylie Voeller 0 2-2 2, Elyana Roach 1 0-0 3, Olivia Dix 1 2-2 4, Grace Cogley 2 0-0 4. Totals 14 7-10 38.

Clark-Willow Lake 11 23 44 50

Aberdeen Roncalli 7 14 22 38

3-point field goals – Vandersnick, Nesheim, Bevers 2; Thomas, Crawford, Roach. Total fouls – Clark-Willow Lake 11; Aberdeen Roncalli 15. Rebounds – Clark-Willow Lake 31 (Begeman 13); Aberdeen Roncalli 24 (Crawford 4). Turnovers – Clark-Willow Lake 22; Aberdeen Roncalli 11. Assists – Clark-Willow Lake 12 (Begeman 6); Aberdeen Roncalli 6 (Thomas 2, Helms 2). Steals – Clark-Willow Lake 9 (Begeman 6); Aberdeen Roncalli 18 (Thomas 6).