MILBANK – Aberdeen Roncalli relied on its seniors to record a win in their final regular season game. A trio of seniors helped to fuel a 58-53 Northeast Conference boys’ basketball win over Milbank Area Friday night.

“Tonight the seniors came through,” said Roncalli coach Rick Kline. “Brian Holmstrom made some big shots for us, Gray (Imbery) did his thing and Micah (Dohrer) made some free throws towards the end. Those are our seniors. That’s what they do.”

The Cavaliers did not come out the gates quickly and Kline took the responsibility for that.

“I was really happy for the kids in the second half. I did a very poor job coaching in the first half,” Kline said. “At halftime we had a controlled motivational talk. It worked pretty well.”

The Cavaliers came out with a bit more defensive intensity in the second half and eventually took control.

“We’re not going to win with talent,” Kline said. “We have to win with our hard work and and we did that tonight.”

Imbery finished with 16 points, Holmstrom followed with 15, and Dohrer added 14.

Milbank Area received 14 points from Carter Hartman, and 11 apiece from Will Cummins and Bennett Schwenn.

Roncalli finished the regular season at 9-11, winning six of its last eight games. Kline pointed to a loss last week to Aberdeen Christian as a key moment.

“A lot of this goes back to the Aberden Christian game,” he said. “We did not give the Christian kids our best effort. They made us better and we didn’t really do much to make them any better. That was a good learning experience for our kids.”

Now, the Cavaliers will head into the post season on a high note following a solid road victory over the Bulldogs.

“We’re having fun. The locker room is always fun when you win,” Kline said. “We were the hammer tonight and they were nail.”

ABERDEEN RONCALLI: Micah Dohrer 4 4-4 14, Zee Mounga 3 0-2 7, Brian Holmstrom 5 0-0 15, Gray Imbery 8 0-7 16, Maddox May 2 2-4 6. Totals 22-45 6-17 58.

MILBANK AREA: Mason Riley 3 2-3 8, Will Cummins 3 3-11 11, Bennett Schwenn 4 2-3 11, Carter Hartman 5 0-0 14, Ryker Trevett 0 2-2 2, Garrett Mertens 2 2-2 7. Totals 17-52 11-21 53.

Aberdeen Roncalli 7 22 37 58

Milbank Area 14 29 38 53

3-point field goals – Dohrer 2, Mounga, Holmstrom 5; Cummins 2, Schwenn, Hartman 4, Mertens. Fouled out – Mounga. Total fouls – Aberdeen Roncalli 19; Milbank Area 17. Rebounds – Aberdeen Roncalli 35 (May 11, Imbery 10); Milbank Area 36 (Hartman 8). Turnovers – Aberdeen Roncalli 14; Milbank Area 14. Assists – Aberdeen Roncalli 7 (Dohrer 4); Milbank Area 10.