Aberdeen Roncalli is headed back to the site of its greatest girls’ basketball accomplishment.

While the field will be much different this time with a new class of teams, the Cavaliers are hoping the result will be the same at the Watertown Civic Arena this week.

Roncalli, which won the Class A state championship last season, is the top seed at this year’s Class B state tourney. The Cavaliers have been rated number one all season and coach Derek Larson said the expectations are much different than they were a year ago when Roncalli went in as the fourth seed.

“Number one I don’t think anyone even had us winning the first game last year and then winning second game, and then winning the third game. I think that’s probably the major difference,” Larson said. “Last year we went in as the fourth seed. People thought we were going to lose to Sioux Falls Christian. Now we’re the one seed. It’s definitely a little bit different, us being the one seed for the first time. But we’re happy to be back in the state tournament and happy to be back in Watertown.”

The Cavaliers (22-1) have not lost to a Class B team all season.

While the squad can produce plenty of points, it is best known for its defense.

Last year on the way to its state title, Roncalli did not allow a single state-tourney foe to score more than 35 points in any of its three games.

“We’ll be required to do something similar again. I’m not saying we’re going to hold every team to under 100 total, but we’ll have to play defense,”Larson said. “That’s the way we play. We don’t outscore teams a lot of times. We really try to make sure that we’re getting the best out of ourselves on the defensive end.”

The team is led by five senior starters. Center Madalyn Bragg (15.3 points per game) patrols the middle, Morgan Fiedler (12.5 ppg) is a catalyst on offense, Olivia Hanson (11.6 ppg) is a lockdown defender, while Jeci Ewart and Allie Morgan are solid shooters from the perimeter.

Roncalli, which has qualified for five state tournaments in a row, will face Viborg-Hurley (19-4) in the opening round at Noon Thursday. Larson said the Cougars are a very solid foe who present multiple challenges.

“They’re one of the better teams we’ve played all year. Watching them on film, I think they’re very comparable to a West Central,” Larson said. “They spread the floor a lot. They can all shoot it from three. We are playing pretty good basketball currently and so are they. We haven’t faced a team like this in a long time.”

Larson said the opening game of any state tournament sets the tone for the entire three-day event.

“Going into the state tournament, your first round game is probably the most important game that you’re going to play,” Larson said, “just because it makes so much difference playing from the afternoon session to the night session.”

While Larson is not about to look too far ahead, he knows the path to another potential state championship is filled with all sorts of challenges. If Roncalli were to advance to the semifinals, it would face either Corsica-Stickney, one of the top squads in Class B all season or last year’s State B champion White River.

“We definitely have a tough road and if you want to be the best, you have beat the best, I guess,” Larson said. “We definitely don’t have any easy road ahead, but we just want to worry about the one game first. The second game doesn’t much matter if you don’t win the first one.”