Aberdeen Roncalli was one play away from defeat.

One play, that is, save a dramatic Maddox Miller 3-pointer as the clock ran out that forced overtime, where the Cavaliers prevailed for a 67-61 victory over Warner in non-conference boys’ basketball action Saturday night at Roncalli Gym.

It was almost the possession that wasn’t, however, as a wild chain of events unfolded in the final six seconds of regulation.

Warner, which had watched Miller cut its 6-point lead in half on the previous possession, went to the line for a 1-and-1 opportunity with 13.6 seconds remaining, but could not convert.

Roncalli collected the rebound and crossed halfcourt, then called a timeout with 8.1 seconds left to draw up a final play.

That play went awry, however, as Miller lost the ball out of bounds, giving Warner possession with 6.0 seconds remaining. The Monarchs’ inbounds pass, however, hooked out of bounds, and the ball returned to Roncalli, setting up Miller’s game-saving bucket.

“At the end, six seconds left, I fumbled the ball,” Miller acknowledged. “My teammates came over and they picked me up. … I love ‘em to death.”

Roncalli coach Dan Gallagher acknowledged Miller’s turnover, but also pointed out the poise of his junior guard.

“What happened was Miller turned the ball over,” Gallagher said. “We had to get him out, because we knew if we had to foul, we knew we needed to keep him in (the game). Luckily, that ball went out of bounds, so we put Maddox back in. … Credit to him, he stepped up big. He played through the fact of what happened earlier. He forgot about it, stepped up and made a big play.”

It was a dramatic end to what proved to be a very physical game. 

“In the first half, I’m not sure we did (handle the physicality well),” Gallagher said. “Warner understood how to play us. Hunter Cramer did a great job of creating shots for himself and they got a pretty comfortable lead.”

Warner, which led 12-8 at the end of the first quarter, pushed that lead to 36-22 at the break and had several Cavaliers in foul trouble early in the second half.

But that lead slowly began to erode as the third quarter played out.

“I talked to them at halftime about coming out, those first three minutes are very, very important,” said Warner coach Derek Hoellein. “Instead of putting our foot down and taking care of business, we let them back in. It’s tough; at the end of the game, we had multiple chances to put the game away. … It hurts.”

Miller finished with 20 points to lead the way for Roncalli. Jayden Munroe added 10 points, while the remainder of the Cavalier scoring came from a balanced offensive effort.

Cramer finished with 32 points for Warner, but just two of those came in the fourth quarter.

“Our guys dug deep and got some stops,” Gallagher said.

The win is the fourth straight for the Cavaliers, who are now 5-2 on the season. Roncalli will host Tiospa Zina Tuesday in a return to Northeast Conference action.

Warner will head to Northwestern on Tuesday. Hoellein said he expects his squad to bounce back quickly.

“We’ve got a good group of kids,” Hoellein said. “But they’re young. They’re young and inexperienced in tough moments like that, and it showed up.”

WARNER (4-3): Hunter Cramer 11 9-10 32, Noah Fischbach 0 1-5 1, Brodey Sauerwein 2 2-4 8, Levi Scepaniak 1 1-3 4, Drew Batenberg 3 0-0 6, Payton Volk 1 0-1 3, Zach Evans 3 0-2 6, Isaac Hoeft 0 1-2 1. Totals 21 14-25 61.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (5-2): Maddox Miller 6 5-6 20, Caden Shelton 4 0-0 8, Aiden Fisher 1 4-4 6, Jayden Munroe 5 0-1 10, Maddox May 2 3-6 7, Brody Weinmeister 0 1-2 1, Darwin Gambler 3 1-2 9, Zane Backous 1 3-4 6. Totals 22 17-25 67.

Warner 12 24 9 11 5 – 61

Aberdeen Roncalli 8 14 18 16 11 – 67

3-point field goals – Cramer, Sauerwein 2, Scepaniak, Volk; Miller 3, Gambler 2, Backous. Fouled out – Warner, Evans, Ashton Schuchhardt; Aberdeen Roncalli, May. Fouls – Warner 24; Aberdeen Roncalli 25.