AGENCY VILLAGE – Aberdeen Roncalli used a total team effort on the way to a 71-21 win over Tiospa Zina in Northeast Conference girls’ basketball action Tuesday night.
The Cavaliers had nine different players score in the contest, and every player who entered the game made an impact in some way.
“I thought we shared the ball really well after we kind of broke their press. We got the ball to the middle of the floor, and I thought we got a lot of open passes to our post players in transition,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson. “Just got the ball to the middle, which was extremely effective, and yeah, it’s nice to get people in the scoring column. I think Genevieve Bain scored her first two points of her varsity career so that was kind of special.”
Even though Elyana Roach, Morgan Helms, and Greta Peterson didn’t score a basket, they still made a positive impact on the game.
“I thought like Elyana Roach and I thought Morgan Helms, even though they didn’t score, had huge impacts on the game with assists and also on the defensive end,” Larson said.
A pair of Cavaliers led the team with 16 points on the night. Claire Crawford put up 11 in the first quarter, and scored 12 of her 16 from beyond the arc. Olivia Dix came in off the bench putting up 16, all on 2-point shots and two free throws.
“Claire shot really well early, especially first half. Knocked down I think 3 3’s in the first quarter or at least the first half. So again, she kind of got us going offensively,” said Larson. “It was nice to get Olivia Dix, I don’t know how many minutes she played total. I’m going to say 12 and scored 16 points in her 12 minutes or so. So again, happy for people like that who don’t always see a ton of minutes in the varsity game.”
With an unorthodox offense from the Wambdi, the Cavaliers knew they had to dial in on their rebounding to end their possessions.
“We full courted in the first quarter and backed it off after the first quarter. We talked a lot about not just bailing people out going to the rim,” said Larson. “They shoot a ton of 3’s, so I want to make sure we’re backside rebounding, especially long shot rebounds. So, I want to make sure we’re defensive rebounding, especially from that backside.”
The Cavaliers, rated eighth, have won seven games in a row and will host ninth-rated Clark-Willow Lake on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
“It’ll be a good matchup. We’re excited for the matchup. We’re ready to play a good conference team. Again, they played us tough last year, and they’re playing a lot of young kids, but all have started for a year or two already,” Larson said. “They’re going to bring a good test for us, especially at home on Thursday. It’s going to be a physical conference matchup that we probably haven’t seen since we played Sisseton a couple weeks ago.”
ABERDEEN RONCALLI (10-1): Gabby Thomas 2 3-4 7, Claire Crawford 6 0-0 16, Karsyn Davis 5 0-0 10, Rylee Voeller 3 1-2 8, Jillian Ellwein 2 0-0 5, Kadince Glynn 1 0-2 2, Olivia Dix 7 2-2 16, Genevieve Baim 1 0-0 2, Grace Cogley 2 1-2 5. Totals 29 7-12 71.
TIOSPA ZINA (4-7): Emma Jens 2 0-0 4, Kayleigh Abbey 1 0-1 2, Ziah Crawford 1 0-0 3, Brileigh Bartunek 1 0-0 2, Stevie Marks 4 1-1 10. Totals 9 1-2 21.
Aberdeen Roncalli 28 52 63 71
Tiospa Zina 4 12 19 21
3-point field goals – Crawford 4, Voeller, Ellwein; Crawford, Marks. Total fouls – Aberdeen Roncalli 4; Tiospa Zina 12.
