From offensive rebounds and timely three-pointers to key defensive stops, Aberdeen Roncalli made all the big plays when it mattered most Thursday night at Roncalli Gym.

The Cavaliers rallied from an eight-point deficit early in the fourth quarter, scored four points in the final 10 seconds of regulation and pulled out a 62-58 overtime victory against Britton-Hecla in a Northeast Conference boys’ basketball game.

“Everything kind of clicked together. We worked hard and played as a team,” said Roncalli’s Maddox May. “That’s how we got the win in the end.”

It was May who started a closing surge that gave the Cavaliers the spark they needed.

Trailing 48-40 with 5 1/2 minutes left, Roncalli started its closing run.

May scored on an offensive rebound and then nailed a three-point field goal moments later before Keegan Stewart followed with a trey and soon the score was tied 48-48.

“That’s all we needed was a little momentum,” May said. “That’s all we needed and then we got going.”

It’s common to see May muscle inside for a putback score, but having the post player shooting a key three-pointer?

“I normally don’t, but I was open, so I just decided to shoot it and it went in,” May said. “I was pretty hyped about that.”

So were the rest of the Cavaliers and it changed the complexion of the game.

“You notice that a lot from Maddox May as far as football-wise. He’s the guy that can change a game. He showed what he’s capable of on the basketball floor today, too,” said Roncalli coach Dan Gallagher. “Athleticism is going to carry you a long ways. When he plays like that with that effort, that tenacity, you saw when he came out to start the fourth quarter he wanted this win. There’s no other way of saying it.”

The Braves retook the lead and appeared to be in good shape, leading 54-50 in the closing seconds.

That’s when Aiden Fisher drove to the basket, scored and got fouled with eight seconds left. He missed the free throw, but Keegan Stewart grabbed the rebound and scored to tie the game and force overtime.

From there, Roncalli never trailed, as May made two free throws, Fisher scored on another drive and Maddox Miller hit a three-pointer to open a five-point advantage with 42 seconds left to give the Cavaliers a cushion to work with on the way to the victory.

The Braves, who led by as many as 13 points at one stage, never trailed in regulation, but came up just down with the game on the line.

“I’ve coached in a lot of close games and the little things are what count,” said Britton-Hecla coach Troy Knecht. “Kids have to make the shots. You have to step up and make the shots. You make the shots and you do the little things, you win those kind of games. We just didn’t do that at the end, unfortunately.”

Aidan Fredrickson led all scorers with 26 points to top the Braves. BoDell Davidson and Dawson Treeby each contributed 13.

Roncalli was led by Miller with 18 points. May finished with 15, and Stewart followed with 13.

Fisher scored eight points off the bench. Gallagher said the freshman often does things that don’t show up in the scorebook, but on this occasion, his contributions were very visible.

“Finally, he got his day in the books,” Gallagher said. “He came up huge for us today.”

Roncalli improved to 5-11 on the season with the victory.

The win should give the Cavaliers a boost heading into the final weeks of the regular season.

“We needed that confidence going into these next few games, because they’re going to be tough for us,” May said. “That will help give us some momentum going into them.”

Roncalli has an NEC road contest against Tiospa Zina on Monday. The Wambdi are led by standouts Jasiah Red Bear and Juron Adams.

“There’s going to be Red Bear, there’s going to be Adams. You have to pick your poison there,” Gallagher said. “Who are you going to give something up to? It’s just can we limit how much we give up to those two and make other people try to beat us.”

BRITTON-HECLA (3-11): Aidan Fredrickson 10 5-5 26, BoDell Davidson 6 1-3 13, Dawson Treeby 5 0-1 13, Gage Storley 1 2-4 4, Luke Storley 1 0-0 2 Landon Carlson 0 0-2 0. Totals 23-47 8-15 58.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (5-11): Maddox Miller 7 1-4 18, Zee Mounga 2 0-0 5, Caden Shelton 1 0-0 2, Keegan Stewart 5 0-0 13, Maddox May 5 3-4 15, Aiden Fisher 4 0-1 8, Zane Backous 0 1-2 1. Totals 24-53 6-12 62.

Britton-Hecla 17 32 44 54 58

Aberdeen Roncalli 11 23 40 54 62

3-point field goals – Fredrickson, Treeby 3; Miller 3, Mounga, Stewart 3, May. Fouled out – G. Storley. Total fouls – Britton-Hecla 14; Aberdeen Roncalli 15. Rebounds – Britton-Hecla 34 (G. Storley 7, Ashton Mills 7; Aberdeen Roncalli 34 (Stewart 9, May 8). Turnovers – Britton-Hecla 15; Aberdeen Roncalli 11.