WARNER – Aberdeen Roncalli once again had third-quarter struggles, but free throws came to the rescue Thursday night.

The Cavaliers made 15-of-16 free throws in the final quarter to hold off Warner 44-38 in non-conference girls’ basketball. Claire Crawford led the foul-shooting accuracy making all 11 of her attempts.

“Holy cow did we shoot free throws in the fourth quarter,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson. “Claire went 11-of-11 in the fourth quarter. We went 15-of-16 in the fourth quarter. It totally won us the game.”

The Cavaliers needed nearly every one of those foul shots, because the Monarchs were breathing down their necks.

Warner managed just one field goal in the first 14 minutes of the contest, and trailed 17-2. However, the hosts started to gain a little traction at the end of the period, dividing the last eight points of the half with the Cavaliers.

Then came the third quarter, which has been a nemesis for Roncalli so far this season.

“It was just wild,” Larson said as his team got outscored 14-4 in the period. “Story of our third quarter for the last three games, turned it over a lot in the third quarter. We got some quality looks, none went in. In the second half we scored three made baskets.”

Meanwhile, the Monarchs who couldn’t make a shot to start the game, all of sudden caught fire and kept chipping away at the deficit, eventually slicing it to 24-21 late in the third quarter.

Warner close the gap to 30-29 with 5:34 left in the game on a conventional three-point play by Kaydee Mackner. However, the hosts could never quite get over the hump.

The Monarchs fouled Crawford shooting a three-point field goal, which helped to set the tone for the remainder of the contest.

Warner also had a costly turnover down four when Gabby Thomas stole a pass and converted a layup.

Thomas accounted for all three of Roncalli’s second-half baskets.

“All three were steals and transitions layups for Gabby,” Larson said.

While the Cavaliers pulled out the win, they are still searching for ways to have better third quarters.

“I don’t know what our deal is to start the third quarter. We didn’t do a lot of things right other than make free throws in the fourth quarter,” Larson said. “We gave up a ton inside the paint, we gave up a ton of dribble drive, just didn’t play very fundamentally sound on the defensive end, which again, normally we do a pretty good job and we did a good job in the first half, but not in the second.”

However, a 21-for-25 performance at the charity stripe allowed the Cavaliers to pull out the victory.

“Give the kids credit. I thought we did a good job getting the ball to especially Claire down the stretch,” Larson said. “We knew she kind of had the hot hand and got her the basketball and made a lot of free throws.”

Thomas led Roncalli with 13 points and Crawford had 11.

Mackner led all scorers with 17 points to pace Warner, 3-1 on the year.

Roncalli, also 3-1, hosts Waubay-Summit on Saturday and Herreid-Selby Area on Monday.

Larson is treating it like a little series with three games in five days.

“We want to go 1-0 each day,” he said.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (3-1): Gabby Thomas 6 0-0 13, Morgan Helms 0 3-6 3, Claire Crawford 0 11-11 11, Karsyn Davis 0 2-2 2, Rylee Voeller 2 0-0 6, Elyana Roach 1 2-2 4, Olivia Dix 1 3-4 5. Totals 10 21-25 44.

WARNER (3-1): Courtney Leidholt 2 2-2 6, Kaydee Mackner 7 2-3 17, Tatum Hanson 0 3-4 3, Jaycee Jung 1 0-0 2, Kenna Leidholt 2 5-7 9, Brynn Hill 0 1-2 1. Totals 12 13-18 38.

Aberdeen Roncalli 10 22 26 44

Warner 2 7 21 38

3-point field goals – Thomas, Voeller 2; Mackner. Fouled out – Thomas. Total fouls – Aberdeen Roncalli 16; Warner 19.