SISSETON – Aberdeen Roncalli gave itself a chance against top-seeded Sisseton Monday night, but was unable to pull off the upset.

The Redmen overcame a third-quarter deficit and picked up a 67-56 win during the Region 1A girls’ basketball semifinals. Sisseton now advances to the SoDak 16 on Thursday where it meets Parkston for the right to advance to the state tournament.

“We had them on the ropes,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson, “and couldn’t close ‘er down.”

The Cavaliers, who trailed by 11 points in the second quarter, owned a 38-34 lead early in third period after Camryn Bain scored five straight points.

That’s when everything changed. Sisseton responded with eight unanswered points to take a lead it never lost. The Redmen eventually rebuilt their double-digit lead to start the fourth quarter and Roncalli was unable to recovered.

“I was really proud of how hard we played. I thought we didn’t back down,” Larson said. “They had a lot of pressure on them being 17-2 and us being close to .500, and them playing on their home floor and all those things. I thought they had a lot of pressure and they definitely answered that the second half.”

As was the case in the first meeting with Sisseton during the regular season, the Cavaliers had a difficult time matching up with center Krista Langager, who led the Redmen with 21 points and 14 rebounds.

“It’s tough when our tallest kid is 5-9, and that’s probably a stretch, going up against 6-1 in the post,” Larson said.

While Sisseton was doing damage on the inside, Roncalli made the most of its opportunities from the perimeter, firing in 10 three-point field goals on the night.

“Against Redfield (on Saturday in Sisseton), we had no 3-pointers and won by 13,” Larson said. “Tonight we hit 10 threes and we couldn’t get stops.”

Freshman Claire Crawford topped the Cavaliers with 17 points, including five treys.

“She had a great game. I don’t think she came out of the game the whole night. We needed her on the floor,” Larson said. “I thought she did a good job defensively, also. She definitely didn’t look like a freshman tonight.”

Bain finished with 13 points before fouling out. Ava Hanson contributed 12, and McKenna O’Keefe added eight.

Hannah Leverson scored 17 points for the Redmen, who received at least five points from four other players.

Roncalli capped its season with an 11-10 record in a year that featured a variety of highs and lows. A young team got even younger to start the campaign when Ella Hanson was unable to play her senior season.

“When we found out that Ella wasn’t going to play after the volleyball season, I think the kids took that really hard, because she was such a good leader for us,” Larson said. “She would have been our only senior on the floor. She did such of a good job of leading by example at practice and little things like that.”

The Cavaliers, playing with five new starters from a year ago, still found a way to reach double-digit victories and went down battling in their final game of the season.

“Not having a senior that’s playing and then having a bunch of young kids, I’m happy with how hard we competed,” Larson said. “I thought we won some games that people thought we were going to lose and lost a couple games that we probably should have won.”

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (11-10): McKenna O’Keefe 3 1-2 8, Camryn Bain 4 4-5 13, Maddie Huber 1 1-4 3, Claire Crawford 6 0-0 17, Ava Hanson 4 1-2 12, Rylee Voeller 1 1-1 3. Totals 19 8-14 56.

SISSETON (19-2): Hannah Leverson 5 3-4 17, Emmalee Nielsen 2 1-2 6, Ruby Rice 1 2-4 5, Chloe Langager 3 1-2 7, Krista Langager 10 1-4 21, Tara Nelson 3 0-1 7, Rylie Huff 2 0-0 4. Totals 26 8-17 67.

Aberdeen Roncalli 14 30 41 56

Sisseton 18 32 48 67

3-point field goals – O’Keefe, Bain, Crawford 5, Hanson 3; Leverson 4, Nielsen, Rice, Nelson. Fouled out – Bain. Total fouls – Aberdeen Roncalli 12; Sisseton 13.