The battle never got to the middle Friday night.

Aberdeen Roncalli created chaos outside to offset a height disadvantage inside on the way to 37-28 win over Sisseton in Northeast Conference girls’ basketball at the Roncalli Gym.

“That was our goal. You don’t want to play a half-court game with 6-2, 6-foot and 6-foot,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson of Sisseton’s starting lineup. “The first half I thought we couldn’t even get into the full court, because we couldn’t score. The run and jump, the full-court didn’t matter because we couldn’t do much there.”

Maybe not, but the half-court defense provided the Cavaliers time to get their offense going. Roncalli prevented Sisseton from taking a shot for more than four minutes to start the game and allowed just two points in the opening quarter.

“I thought our guards did a goob job defending theirs,” Larson said. “I thought our posts did a good job defending their posts.”

Roncalli found a small bit of offense in the second quarter, enough that it allowed the Cavaliers to build a 16-8 halftime advantage.

Eventually, Roncalli started scoring with more regularity in the third period, which in turn allowed the hosts to employ their full-court press which widened the margin further.

“I think that’s what our coaches prepared us for, make sure to do good in the run and jump, and don’t let their posts really touch the ball,” said Roncalli’s Gabby Thomas. “It was hard for us at the start, because the posts did touch the ball a lot, but I think we pulled it together in the third quarter, which is very unusual for us.”

Meanwhile, the Redmen continued to struggle to find consistent offense, managing just five made field goals through the first three quarters.

Sisseton coach Sara Lincoln said she’s never disappointed in her team’s defense, “it’s just sometimes we’ve got to figure out our offense. We’ve got to find out who’s going to lead us each night and once we find that, I think everything’s going to click for all of us.”

Figuring out an effective method of scoring against the Cavaliers can prove to be a challenging prospect for most teams.

“We’re just trying to get better every single game, be comfortable with being able to score the ball,” Lincoln said. “All of us are waiting for somebody to do it for us. … The whole team is capable of scoring, so we’re waiting for them to figure that out, and us giving them the confidence so they can do it.”

In the past, Sisseton relied on all-state guard Hannah Leverson to take control and run the offense, but without the NCAA Division II player, the Redmen are looking for somebody else to step into the role.

“For a long time I think we were spoiled with having Hannah in our program for a while. It’s hard to kind of compare and contrast, because I don’t think we’re going to have another one for a while. … I think that’s where we’re lacking right now,” Lincoln said. “And everybody is finding some huge roles this year. We have some younger players trying to step up and they’re really trying, and trying to get there. It’s just a learning process and hopefully we figure it out in a month and a half.”

The Cavaliers eventually built a 20-point lead by the middle of the fourth quarter. Again, it was their defense that produced a late third-quarter surge as Roncalli took control.

“Our guards did a good job, especially in the full court, even the half court, just getting hands in the passing lanes and doing some little things like that,” Larson said, “especially back end of the third quarter, going on that run.”

Thomas, who finished with a team-leading 11 points, got her hands on plenty of balls during the contest.

“I think I have to be kind of secret about it and just make sure to lead them into the pass, but also know that I can go get the ball, ” Thomas said. “My main goal is go get the ball.”

Sisseton’s Piper Langager led all scorers with 19 points and also hauled down 10 rebounds. The freshman scored 13 points in the fourth quarter.

“I figured that we gotta step up to the plate. Somebody’s gotta be in this game,” Langager said. “They did a good job getting the ball into me.”

Langager said there are things the Redmen can take from the game and build upon heading into the second half of the season.

“The positive was we had really good defense,” Langager said. “We just gotta work on our offense, believe in one another, and just work on our passes more.”

Thomas praised the play of teammates Olivia Dix and Karsyn Davis, who battled taller opponents in the lane and held their own during the contest.

“I think we should hand this game to our posts as well,” Thomas said, “because they really worked their butts off in practice, especially Livia and Karsyn. … They knew they were going up against 6-2, 6-foot people and they worked their butts off to prepare themselves for that.”

Roncalli, 7-1 on the season, heads to Faulkton for a non-conference game on Tuesday.

“We haven’t always played really well at that place. … It will be a fun atmosphere,” Larson said.

SISSETON (1-6): Fallon Hawkins 1 1-2 3, Kennedy Hanson 1 0-0 2, Piper Langager 8 3-4 19, Elliot Hortness 1 2-2 4. Totals 11-40 6-8 28.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (7-1): Gabby Thomas 5 1-2 11, Morgan Helms 1 1-4 3, Claire Crawford 2 1-2 7, Karsyn Davis 1 0-0 2, Rylee Voeller 0 3-4 3, Jillian Ellwein 0 1-2 1, Kadince Glynn 1 0-0 2, Elyana Roach 3 0-0 6, Olivia Dix 0 2-2 2. Totals 13-42 9-16 37.

Sisseton 2 8 13 28

Aberdeen Roncalli 7 16 30 37

3-point field goals – Crawford 2. Total fouls – Sisseton 16; Aberdeen Roncalli 13. Rebounds – Sisseton 35 (Saylor Langager 13, P. Langager 10); Aberdeen Roncalli 26 (Crawford 7). Turnovers – Sisseton 28; Aberdeen Roncalli 17.