WARNER – Aberdeen Roncalli collected a momentum builder heading into the postseason on Saturday afternoon.

The Cavaliers were solid on both ends of the floor in a 69-42 non-conference win over Ipswich in their regular-season finale during the Warner boys’ basketball classic.

After watching a 21-9 lead get cut down to 24-23, a group of Roncalli leaders took matters into their own hands.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to our guys. I didn’t say anything. We didn’t do anything differently,” said Roncalli coach Dan Gallagher. “Maddox (Miller), Keegan (Stewart), Aiden (Fisher) called everyone on the court together and just got us straight, and got us in position and from there it was a 10-0 run.”

Stewart (six points) and Miller (four points) provided the offense during the run, while Fisher sparked the defense with a pair of steals that led directly to transition baskets.

The surge restored Roncalli’s double-digit advantage and the Tigers were never able to get the margin under 10 points the remainder of the game.

Fisher finished the contest with five steals and helped to keep Ipswich from getting into a rhythm on offense.

“My defense is kind of what I pride myself in,” Fisher said. “It’s just hands everywhere, hands up.”

The junior guard does a little bit of everything for the Cavaliers and is a key asset, according to Gallagher.

“Man, he played so well. He just stayed in front of the basketball tonight, ” Gallagher said. “He created a lot of chaos for them, and his shooting came in tonight which is great.”

Ipswich played without senior leader Trevor Heinz, who is out with an injury. That forced the Tigers to have different players in different positions.

“It’s just definitely weird losing one of the better players we had on our team, an important guy,” said Ipswich senior Jace Konsor, who led the team with 15 points.

Still, the Tigers played hard and drew the praise of Gallagher.

“Proud of our defensive effort, but without Heinz they battled,” Gallagher said. “They played really well.”

However, Roncalli connected for 11 3-pointers in the game, five by Stewart, to keep the Cavaliers in control of the contest.

“I don’t know what they shot, but it was pretty good, and that didn’t help matters,” said Ipswich coach Stew Bohle. “We sort of needed them to not shoot the ball as well. We scrambled a little bit offensively.”

Again, Roncalli’s 10 unanswered points late in the second quarter set the tone for the remainder of the contest.

“We had it within our reach and then we kind of crashed down,” Konsor said. “We just have to learn from it.”

Chet Peterson added 14 points for the Tigers, now 12-7 on the season.

Bohle said the team will work to get back on track as it prepares for the upcoming postseason.

“We can dwell on this and we can pout, or we can do something about it,” Bohle said, “and that’s what we’re going to do. We’ll go back to work on Monday.”

Konsor said the Tigers will try to figure out the right pieces moving forward, not knowing the status of Heinz.

“We just have to figure out how to play with different lineups with Trevor out,” Konsor said. “People have to step up and we have to learn to play as a team with other people.”

Stewart finished with a game-high 25 points, while Miller contributed 17. Fisher ended with 13.

The Cavaliers, 13-7, now have the upcoming week off before heading into postseason play. The squad will likely be an underdog in each postseason game it plays in, but that’s fine with Fisher.

“We’ve been underdogs the whole season,” Fisher said. “We’re used to it.”

He said the players seem to relish that role.

“I think we play very well with the underdog mentality,” Fisher said.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (13-7): Maddox Miller 7 1-2 17, Keegan Stewart 9 2-3 23, Aiden Fisher 4 3-3 13, Parker Grieben 3 0-0 6, Jesse Hernandez 1 0-0 3, Bryson Olson 1 0-0 2, Quinten Shelton 0 0-2 0, Danny Schumacher 1 0-0 3. Totals 26-47 6-10 69.

IPSWICH (12-7): Jace Konsor 6 2-4 15, Xavier Kadlec 0 2-2 2, Chet Peterson 5 0-2 14, Tucker Kadlec 3 1-2 7, Jaxon Holt 1 0-0 2, Rasmus Loken 1 0-0 2. Totals 16-41 5-10 42.

Aberdeen Roncalli 18 36 56 69

Ipswich 9 25 33 42

3-point field goals – Miller (2), Stewart (5), Fisher (2), Hernandez, Schumacher; Konsor, Peterson (4).  Total fouls – Aberdeen Roncalli 16; Ipswich 12. Rebounds – Aberdeen Roncalli 28 (Stewart 5, Grieben 5, Fisher 5); Ipswich 19 (T. Kadlec 5). Turnovers – Aberdeen Roncalli 9; Ipswich 14.