Milbank Area used a 12-2 surge to start the fourth quarter to pull away from Aberdeen Roncalli for a 48-28 Northeast Conference girls’ basketball victory at Roncalli Gym Thursday night.

The Bulldogs relied on a stifling defense, as well as effective rebounding, to keep the Cavaliers contained for much of the game.

After a back-and-forth first quarter that ended with a 13-10 Milbank lead, both teams found themselves struggling to make a basket. Milbank outscored Roncalli 5-0 in the first three minutes of the second quarter to extend its lead to 18-10 as the Bulldogs’ defense kept the Roncalli offense in check.

“Going in we knew Roncalli, when they get open looks, (and) clean looks, they can shoot the ball, so we knew we had to get out on their shooters,” said Milbank coach Brian Pauli.

The Cavaliers kept it close to end the first half, trailing by just four, 20-16.

Roncalli coach Derek Larson felt his team had momentum heading into the second half.

“I thought (in the) first half we did a pretty good job defensively,” Larson said. “I thought we made a run to finish the first half, which we needed.”

The Bulldogs defense continued to make things hard for Roncalli in the second half, giving up only three points in the third quarter. Milbank also was able to win the battle for rebounds, making the most of second-chance rebounds on offense, while limiting Roncalli’s chances with defensive boards.

“We’ve had some games where we’ve given up a number of rebounds, and you’re going to give some up playing zone, but I thought we did a good job of playing one and out,” Pauli said. “It seemed like the lane was just clean (and) boxing out we did a really good job.”

Roncalli worked hard to corral the rebounds, but Milbank’s aggressive presence below the basket proved to be too much.

“I thought we gave up too many offensive rebounds,” Larson said. “I thought we worked too hard some defensive possessions to then give up three or four opportunities at the rim.”

Maurina Street was a force down low for the Bulldogs, impacting Roncalli shot attempts and rebounding throughout the game. Claire Snaza also played a pivotal role on the boards.

Leading 28-19 after three quarters, Milbank used a 12-2 run to start the final period, extending the advantage to 40-21 on the way to the victory.

Milbank’s Isabella Anderson led all scorers with 18 points, including three 3-pointers. Street tallied 13 points.

Roncalli was led by Ava Hanson with nine points, while Rylee Voeller had six.

Pauli was proud of the defensive efforts that carried his team to the victory.

“I’ve kind of always grown up that way… defense wins… and so we harp on our defense pretty well,” Pauli said. “I thought we did a good job of spreading out, covering them up, and making things hard for them.”

Larson noted that his team will need to fix the little things as the postseason draws near.

“It’s got to start on the defensive end for us,” Larson said. “Just doing the little things right…boxing out, closing out… some of those little things we’ve got to continue to improve upon as we get to the end the year here.”

Both teams now set their sights on Saturday’s NEC-Dak XII Clash in Madison. Roncalli (7-7) will play Elk Point-Jefferson at 11 a.m., while Milbank (10-4) is set to play Tea Area at 2 p.m.

MILBANK AREA (10-4): Siera Wenzl 1 0-0 3, Isabella Anderson 7 1-1 18, Tyra Berry 0 3-4 3, Claire Snaza 2 2-2 6, Maurina Street 6 1-1 13, Rylee Scoular 1 0-0 3, Ellie Neugebauer 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 7-8 48.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (7-7): McKenna O’Keefe 2 0-0 5, Camryn Bain 0 3-4 3, Maddie Huber 2 0-0 5, Ava Hanson 3 2-4 9, Rylee Voeller 2 0-0 6. Totals 9 5-8 28.

Milbank Area 13 20 28 48

Aberdeen Roncalli 10 16 19 28

3-point field goals – Wenzl, Anderson 3, Scoular; O’Keefe, Huber, Hanson, Voeller 2. Total fouls – Milbank Area 10; Aberdeen Roncalli 9.