It was low-scoring defensive battle at Roncalli Gym on Tuesday night.

The Aberdeen Roncalli Cavaliers scored the final 15 points of the game to pull away from Groton for a 33-20 Northeast Conference girls’ basketball win.

Roncalli coach Derek Larson credited the defenses of both teams for dictating the way the game was played.

“There was no flow to the game. It had nothing to do with fouls or officials,” Larson said. “It had all to do with both offenses (not being) very good. I also credit that to both defenses playing really hard. That’s the way both teams play. We both win on the defensive end and we were fortunate enough to hit shots in the fourth quarter to pull away.”

The Cavaliers and Tigers entered the second half tied at 16 and duked it out in a low-scoring third quarter that saw Roncalli outscore Groton 6-4. Unfortunately for the Tigers, it would be their only baskets of the second half as they went scoreless in the fourth quarter.

“We just couldn’t put them in,” Groton coach Matt Locke said. “We had a couple of good looks and we weren’t taking confident strokes and they weren’t going to fall.”

After Groton took a 20-18 lead in the third quarter, the Cavaliers finished the remainder of the game on a 15-0 run. Claire Crawford and Camryn Bain each had a pair of 3-pointers to fuel the run, while Ava Hanson added a basket during the sequence, as well.

Hanson, who finished with a game-high 10 points, said the team had the drive to finish the game on a strong note.

“We knew right when halftime hit, we had the mentality of we’re not giving this up,” Hanson said. “We told ourselves to push through, play defense, play as a team, play together.”

Groton sophomore Rylee Dunker, who finished with a team-high eight points, gave credit to Roncalli’s defense for preventing the Tigers’ ability to score.

“Their defense was great in the second half,” Dunker said. “It was really good, and I think they realized what we were doing.”

Hanson opened the contest with a steal for a lay-up to give the Cavaliers a 2-0 lead. From there, both squads struggled to put points on the scoreboard.

“Our shots weren’t falling. We had to figure out what we were going to do to do better,” Hanson said. “We missed open shots, but our defense, that’s what won the game for us.”

The Tigers’ first points came on a Kennedy Hansen free throw with 2:36 left in the quarter, cutting the deficit to 6-1, but Groton did not score their first field goal until 18 seconds left in the opening quarter.

“I think we were just trying to get into the game and get the feel for each other,” Dunker said of the slow start.

Groton began the second quarter with two consecutive baskets to take an 8-6 lead, its only lead of the half. Despite making a few more baskets in the second quarter, both teams continued to struggle from the field. Roncalli built a 13-8 lead before Groton went on an 8-3 run to end the first half with a tie.

“Some shots went in, that’s the biggest thing,” Locke said of the second quarter. “We’re not a big team, so we’ve got to rely on jump shooters. We hit a few in the second quarter and then after that, we really didn’t hit anything.”

Groton (2-3) will be off for the Christmas break before hosting Aberdeen Christian on Dec. 28. Locke said the team will look to make adjustments before the next contest.

“I’ve got to watch (film) and just see,” Locke said. “Our kids’ biggest thing is we’ve got to have confidence. We’ve got to get our confidence back and we’ll go from there.”

Roncalli (4-0) will host Herreid-Selby Area on Friday before entering the Christmas break. Larson said the Cavaliers need to prepare for a tall Wolverines team.

“They’re really long. They start 6-1, 6-2 in the post with those two Rossow sisters (Jada and Jordyn). We’ll have to be ready for that,” Larson said. “We’ll probably see some 2-3 (zone), I would imagine, out of that team. It’ll be a dogfight again on Friday.”

GROTON (2-3): Kennedy Hansen 2 1-2 5, Jerica Locke 1 0-0 3, Jaedyn Penning 1 0-0 2, Faith Traphagen 1 0-0 2, Rylee Dunker 4 0-0 8. Totals 9 1-2 20.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (4-0): McKenna O’Keefe 1 1-2 4, Camryn Bain 3 0-0 8, Maddie Huber 0 2-2 2, Claire Crawford 3 0-0 8, Ava Hanson 3 4-4 10, Morgan Helms 0 1-2 1. Totals 10 8-10 33.

Groton 3 16 20 20

Aberdeen Roncalli 6 16 22 33

3-Point field goals – Locke; Bain (2), Crawford (2), O’Keefe. Total fouls – Groton 10; Aberdeen Roncalli 14.