REDFIELD – Aberdeen Roncalli didn’t lead until it mattered most Thursday night.

The Cavaliers, who trailed by nine points in the third quarter, allowed just four fourth-quarter points and grabbed a 38-36 Northeast Conference girls’ basketball victory over Redfield.

“We’re going to have a ton of these games. Every game is going to come down to the wire,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson. “All of those little things matter, offensive rebounds, turnovers, all of those little things add up. The reason we won the game is some little things went right for us, especially the second half.”

The Pheasants led for the majority of the contest and were nearly up by double digits in the third period. That’s when things began to turn.

“Ava Hanson got a steal and layup for us,” Larson said, “and then it just seemed like defensively we started to pick up a little bit more.”

The Cavaliers eventually overtook Redfield down the stretch and led by five points in the closing minutes. Roncalli survived a late three-pointer from Gracie Fast and some missed free throws to claim the win.

Hanson finished with 11 points and Claire Crawford 10 for the Cavaliers.

Larson pointed out the effort of Crawford in the paint.

“I thought we did a really good job defending the post. We are so small,” Larson said. “Claire Crawford did a great job. She was undersized almost always in the post, and they just didn’t get as many post touches I think that they would have wanted.”

Ellie Evans scored 13 points and Katie Rozell 12 for the Pheasants.

Roncalli, which is scheduled to play at Mobridge-Pollock on Tuesday, got its season started off on a positive note with a road victory against a conference foe.

“We’re really happy with the win. There’s definitely a lot of things we need to improve upon, but this is a good starting point for us,” Larson said. “It’s nice to be able to pull one of these wins out, especially when we’re so young.”

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (1-0): McKenna O’Keefe 2 0-1 4, Camryn Bain 1 1-2 3, Maddie Huber 2 1-1 5, Claire Crawford 4 2-4 10, Ava Hanson 5 0-0 11, Rylee Voeller 2 1-2 5. Totals 16 5-10 38.

REDFIELD (0-1): Ashlyn Clausen 2 0-0 5, Ellie Evans 4 5-7 13, Katie Rozell 5 0-0 12, Gracie Fast 2 0-0 6, Chloe Zens 0 0-1 0. Totals 13 5-8 36.

Aberdeen Roncalli 7 17 29 38

Redfield 7 21 31 36

3-point field goals – Hanson; Clausen, Rozell 2, Fast 2. Fouled out – Fast, Clausen. Total fouls – Aberdeen Roncalli 15; Redfield 17. Rebounds – Aberdeen Roncalli 19; Redfield 25 (Rozell 8, Evans 6). Turnovers – Aberdeen Roncalli 7; Redfield 19.