Aberdeen Roncalli’s defense did it again.

The Cavaliers shut down Groton in the fourth quarter to help secure a 44-35 girls’ basketball win in the Region 1A tournament Thursday night at Roncalli Gym. Similar to a prior meeting when Roncalli held Groton scoreless in the final period, the Cavaliers limited the Tigers to just one point in the first seven minutes of the last quarter in the rematch.

“Defense, that’s what our coaches talk about all the time,” said Roncalli’s McKenna O’Keefe, “so we really kicked it into gear, and just fought together as a team and defended really well.”

That seven-minute stretch of action allowed the Cavaliers to turn a five-point lead into an 11-point advantage to all but put the game out of reach.

“Roncalli plays good defense,” said Groton’s Jaedyn Penning. “They’re going to suck you up.”

The Cavaliers jumped out to an eight-point lead in the opening period and played with a lead the remainder of the contest. However, Groton always stayed within reach, thanks in part to the outside shooting of Sydney Leicht. The senior nailed a trio of 3-pointers to help keep the Tigers in the hunt.

However, Groton found points hard to come by as the Cavaliers put the clamps on Leicht down the stretch.

“They’re on ball pressure all the time,” Leicht said. “It’s hard to get the ball.”

The Tigers made two three-point field goals in the second half and they were the only baskets that Groton managed to make. The rest of the team’s points came on free throws.

“We did a much better job defensively the second half. I don’t know how many points they scored the second half from free throws, quite a few,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson. “We fouled a lot going to the rim, but we did a phenomenal job defensive rebounding. That was again one our big things for tonight was, we’ve got to make sure we defensive rebound and I thought we boxed out really hard. A couple of occasions it seemed like the ball almost hit the floor before we went and got it, so again proud of the kids for that.”

The Cavaliers were not exactly pouring in the points on their end of the floor. Roncalli made just four total baskets in the final 16 minutes, but two of them were memorable.

With the shot clock about to expire, Maddie Huber made a step-back shot from the perimeter off of one foot to salvage one possession, and O’Keefe made a 3-pointer in transition, following a key defensive block by Rylee Voeller near the Groton basket in what was likely a five-point swing.

“That block was huge down there. Rylee Voeller also had a really nice defensive play off a flag, off this elevator screen that they ran,” Larson said. “She just flagged the screen and probably saved us three points, because Leicht was really shooting the ball well again tonight.”

Leicht scored 10 points and would have probably had many more if not for Roncalli’s defense that prevented her from getting good looks.

“It’s frustrating, but if that’s the case then I know that I have to go get my teammates open,” Leicht said. “I don’t always need the shot. I can just go get my teammates open. They’re all good shooters.”

Penning also contributed 10 points to the Groton total, but it wasn’t quite enough.

“We tried everything,” Penning said. “We had to battle. It just didn’t come in our favor.”

The lack of scoring was an issue this past season for the Tigers.

“We had good looks. They just wouldn’t fall,” said Groton coach Matt Locke. “That’s kind of been our Achilles heel all year long and it came back to bite us again tonight.”

The Tigers finished the year with a 14-8 record and had a memorable season.

“I absolutely love this team. I wouldn’t want to coach any other team,” Locke said. “These girls, they listen and they work hard, and there’s no complaints out of them.”

Huber and Ava Hanson each scored 11 points for the Cavaliers, who improved to 19-3 on the campaign. Roncalli now advances to the SoDak 16 where it will face Mount Vernon-Plankinton at 7 p.m. in Huron on Thursday.

“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing,” O’Keefe said, “we know we’re going to fight hard and it all starts in practice for this upcoming week.”

And of course there will be once again be an emphasis on defense.

“We’ve preached all year we have to win from the defensive end,” Larson said. “It’s going to be the same thing next week also.”

GROTON (14-8): Sydney Leicht 3 1-3 10, Jerica Locke 2 3-4 8, Jaedyn Penning 4 2-4 10, Kennedy Hansen 2 0-0 4, Rylee Dunker 1 0-0 2, Faith Traphagen 0 1-2 1. Totals 12-45 7-13 35.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (19-3): McKenna O’Keefe 2 2-2 7, Camryn Bain 3 0-0 7, Maddie Huber 4 3-4 11, Claire Crawford 1 3-6 6, Ava Hanson 5 0-0 11, Gabby Thomas 1 0-0 2. Totals 16-33 8-12 44.

Groton 11 23 29 35

Aberdeen Roncalli 16 27 34 44 3-point field goals – Leicht (3), Locke; O’Keefe, Bain, Crawford, Hanson. Fouled out – Hansen. Total fouls – Groton 16; Aberdeen Roncalli 18. Rebounds – Groton 21 (Locke 7); Aberdeen Roncalli 30 (Hanson 5, Thomas 5). Turnovers – Groton 12; Aberdeen Roncalli 17. Assists – Groton 4. Steals – Groton 6 (Penning 2).