Faced with a zone defense, the Aberdeen Roncalli found its comfort zone Thursday night.

The Cavaliers nailed 11 three-point field goals to help power a 59-53 Northeast Conference boys’ basketball win over Britton-Hecla at Roncalli Gym.

“I thought that our drive and kick game, and our ball movement … that second quarter really started to stretch out their zone, gave us some really good looks,” said Roncalli coach Dan Gallagher. “That second half was all drive and kick. I think Austin (Fisher) played a huge role in that, getting downhill.”

Britton-Hecla coach Troy Knecht knew there was a risk involved with his team’s zone defense, but decided to take a chance and the Cavaliers ended up cashing in.

“Our 1-3-1 is designed to hold teams down,” Knecht said. “The risk is the 3, but I felt in the second half a lot of those were in transition. They were just firing. … They played with a lot of confidence.”

The Cavaliers often shoot from the perimeter to help compensate for their lack of size in the lane, and received multiple 3-pointers from four different players.

“There’s some people on our team that our coaches say, shoot the 3 when you’re wide open,” said Roncalli senior Jesse Hernandez, “and some say it’s five seconds into the shot clock, maybe kick it around, we can get that anytime we want.”

It was that long-range shooting that allowed the Cavaliers to pull away from a halftime tie and open an eight-point lead in the third quarter.

“They can shoot the ball. They may not be the biggest guys, but man they can fill it up,” said Britton-Hecla senior Will Richter. “They play hard, play good defense, they’re well-coached, and they were the better team tonight.”

The Braves sliced that eight-point deficit down to just two points to start the fourth quarter. However, Roncalli built the margin to double-digits on 3-pointers from Hernandez and Creighton Fisher by the middle of the period.

From there, it became a free-throw shooting contest and Hernandez made 9 of 10 free throws to ice the victory.

“I added a pre flick to my wrist,” Hernandez said. “I kind of incorporate it from golf, just calming down, seeing it go through the net, and getting my arm up. My coaches tell me my shot’s flat a lot, so I just work on getting it up.”

The standout golfer said shooting free throws is similar to putting.

“When you’re on the putting green, you’ve got to read it, concentrate, block everything out,” Hernandez said. “I think it’s on the free-throw line, too, just blocking everyone out, not looking at the scoreboard. You have a routine, so you trust it.”

Britton-Hecla jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the game, but was unable to build on it. The Braves had a difficult time getting the ball into the lane.

“I just don’t think our guys weren’t as confident with the ball as we needed to be on the perimeter,” Knecht said, “and that effects how you get the ball inside. We had a huge size advantage and we didn’t use it enough.”

While Roncalli caught fire from the perimeter, it was the team’s defense that also played a key role in the victory.

“I think what really got us going on the offensive side was our defense,” Hernandez said. “We really picked it up. The energy came. We turned them over and then we got transition points.”

Gallagher said it was his team’s best defensive effort of the season.

“I thought our guys were forcing chaos, I thought that we forced tough shots,” Gallagher said. “I thought that we got a lot of takeaways, we forced some timeouts to be called, and all those things.”

While the Braves did not have a huge amount of turnovers, they also had a difficult time finding a rhythm on offense.

“They played really good defense,” Richter said. “Their pressure really hurt us a little bit. It’s just something we’ve got to get better at.”

Hernandez finished with 20 points to lead the Cavaliers. Creighton Fisher added 16, while Austin Fisher, in his first game back since suffering an injury over Christmas break, added nine. Bryson Olson contributed eight.

Richter’s 20 points paced Britton-Hecla. Mitch Burger and Chaz Vietor each netted nine.

The Braves, 9-4 on the season, have a demanding schedule on the near horizon.

“We’re in the gauntlet right now,” Knecht said. “We’ve got Lennox Saturday. We’ve got Clark-Willow, Hamlin, Groton all left yet. … These kids are going to have show some resolve, keep coming, keep working, engage ourselves against the better programs and see where we’re at.”

Roncalli, 4-6 on the campaign, hosts Northwestern at 2:30 Saturday afternoon in a game that was postponed from a week ago. The Cavaliers will head into that contest with some new-found momentum.

“We’ve had a rough couple games, losing close ones,” Hernandez said. “I think this one means a lot, having motivation going forward.”

BRITTON-HECLA (9-4): Mitch Burger 1 6-8 9, Jack Teveldal 0 2-2 2, Will Richter 6 5-5 20, Jaxon Zuehlke 2 2-8 6, Nate Schuller 0 0-2 0, Ben Folkman 1 0-0 3, Chaz Vietor 4 1-4 9, Nathan Folkman 1 0-0 2. Totals 16-44 16-29 53.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (4-6): Jesse Hernandez 4 9-10 20, Sam Larson 2 0-0 6, Creighton Fisher 5 3-4 16, Bryson Olson 3 1-3 8, Austin Fisher 2 3-4 9. Totals 16-46 16-21 59.

Britton-Hecla 11 19 35 53

Aberdeen Roncalli 6 19 40 59

3-point field goals – Burger, Richter 3, Heer; Hernandez 3, Larson 2, C. Fisher 3, Olson, A. Fisher 2. Fouled out – Aberdeen Roncalli, Mason Berndt. Total fouls – Britton-Hecla 22; Aberdeen Roncalli 22. Rebounds – Britton-Hecla 36 (Vietor 7); Aberdeen Roncalli 33 (Olson 6, C. Fisher 6). Turnovers – Britton-Hecla 15; Aberdeen Roncalli 13.