BRITTON – Aberdeen Roncalli’s offense got going in the second quarter while its defense clamped down in the second half as the Cavaliers scored a 58-15 Northeast Conference girls’ basketball victory over Britton-Hecla Friday night.

Roncalli led 13-6 after the opening stanza, but pulled steadily away after that, producing 22 points in the second period. Roncalli coach Derek Larson said his team had too many empty trips to the offensive end of the court early on in the game.

“Just had a lot of unforced turnovers that didn’t need to happen, but happened,” Larson said. “I thought after that point we did a good job of taking what they gave us instead of trying to force the issue. We shot the ball much better after that.”

The Cavaliers were also able to shut down the host Braves in the second half, limiting Britton-Hecla to just four total points, all of which came in the third quarter.

“Only gave up (four) points in the second half is a solid defensive effort,” Larson said. “I thought (Britton-Hecla) made a lot of shots in the first half, contested jumpers. I didn’t think our defense was bad. They shot it well in the first half. We didn’t give them many looks in the second half.“

Roncalli got a balanced scoring effort from both its starting five and from its bench with all but two players finishing in the scoring column and five players notching eight or more points.

Rylee Voeller led the way with 11 points, followed by Morgan Helms and Elyana Roach with nine. Claire Crawford had eight points, as did Kadince Glynn off the bench.

“I thought our bench played one of their better games of the year,” Larson said. “Kaidence Glynn had maybe her best game, Elyana Roach played really well. I thought our second group did a really good job when they got opportunities.”

Chellon Pruitt had five points to lead the way for Britton-Hecla. Karlie Zuhlke added four points.

Roncalli, now 11-2, will head to Milbank on Thursday to face a 9-2 Bulldog squad in a game that could have region tournament implications down the road.

“I think we’re 1-2 in the region, so kind of a big game,” Larson said. “They beat us last year in the regular season. They’re a good basketball team, a young group that has a lot of different kids, a lot of different pieces this year, but the young kids are playing really well.”

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (11-2): Gabby Thomas 2 0-0 4, Morgan Helms 3 2-4 9, Claire Crawford 3 0-0 8, Karsyn Davis 2 0-0 4, Rylee Voeller 4 1-1 11, Jillian Ellwein 0 1-2 1, Kadince Glynn 3 0-0 8, Elyana Roach 4 1-2 9, Olivia Dix 1 0-0 2, Grace Cogley 1 0-2 2. Totals 23 5-11 58.

BRITTON-HECLA (4-9): Karlie Zuhlke 1 2-5 4, Daynika Zuhlke 1 0-2 2, Maddie Micko 1 0-0 2, Chellon Pruitt 2 1-2 5, Tiara Tank 1 0-0 2. Totals 6 3-12 15.

Aberdeen Roncalli 13 35 45 58

Britton-Hecla 6 11 15 15

3-pt field goals – Helms, Crawford 2, Voeller 2, Glynn 2. Total fouls – Aberdeen Roncalli 10; Britton-Hecla 8. Rebounds – Britton-Hecla (K. Zuhlke 6, Pruitt 6). Steals – Britton-Hecla (Pruitt 6).