GROTON – While Aberdeen Roncalli led from start to finish, the Cavaliers needed a strong finish to finally dispatch Waubay-Summit Tuesday night.

Roncalli built a pair of double-digit leads before making key plays on both ends of the floor in the closing minutes to claim a 54-50 opening round victory during the Region 1A boys’ basketball tournament in Groton.

“It was a huge team win,” said Roncalli coach Dan Gallagher. “Guys just kept battling.”

It was senior guard Maddox Miller who made two key plays on offense to keep the Cavaliers in front. After the Mustangs had closed to within 48-46, Miller nailed a foul-line jumper with 3:31 remaining to make it a two-possession game.

“We’ve been working on scout team the whole week,” Miller said. “We knew that they kind of sagged off the screen a little bit, so I knew I was going to have room to pull it and it went in. I’ve been working on my mid-range over the summer so it was good.”

Miller then came up with what might have been the biggest play of the game, when he corralled an offensive rebound and scored to make it a three-possession game at 53-46 with just over two minutes remaining.

“I knew I had the ability. I knew I could jump to get it, but usually I’m always in foul trouble, so I usually can’t go for those,” Miller said. “I knew it would have been big in that situation, so I went up and grabbed it and put it back up for that clutch point.”

Still, Waubay-Summit was far from finished.

Jackson Wohlleber took a feed from Traveion Neilan for a basket, and then made two free throws to slice the margin to 53-50 with 1:07 left.

The two teams traded turnovers before Roncalli missed two shots, leaving the door ajar for the Mustangs.

However, Wohlleber’s highly contested three-point attempt at a tie was off the mark in the closing seconds.

“If it’s anybody that’s going to hit it, it’s him,” Gallagher said, “but we were at least in his face, made it difficult, and then we got the rebound when it counted.”

Roncalli bolted out to an 8-0 lead to start the contest and played with a cushion the entire night.

“We couldn’t get away from our jitters there the first half,” said Waubay-Summit coach Mark Amdahl. “They got us playing fast. Credit to them. It was hard to get into anything that we wanted to offensively.”

When the Mustangs did get in a flow, they were able to work away at the margin, but could never level the score.

“It felt like all night, every time we scored, they countered,” Wohlleber said. “Roncalli is really good. They’re a really good team. Every time we scored, they came back down and scored. They executed really well.”

The Cavaliers led by 10 at the half and eventually extended the margin to 37-26 with 3:17 left in the third, but could not shake the pesky Mustangs.

“It’s tough when you get down early, but I’m proud of our guys,” Wohlleber said. “We really fought hard.”

In a game where every point mattered, Waubay-Summit struggled at the charity stripe, making 10 of 19 foul shots in the contest.

“The free throws, that’s kind of been our crutch this year,” Amdahl said. “We’ve worked a ton on them in practice. It’s no lie free throws win games, and tonight they didn’t go in for us.”

Wohlleber scored a game-high 23 points, and Neilan contributed 16 for the Mustangs, who finished the year at 14-7.

The contest marked the end of a stellar career for Wohlleber, who helped to lead Waubay-Summit to the State B tournament two years ago.

When asked what he will remember most about playing for the Mustangs, Wohlleber said, “It’s just going to be the family we’ve built, all the games that we’ve won. It’s really exciting to win. I never take it for granted to win all these games, especially going to the state tournament my sophomore year. Those six extra games, it’s something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.”

Keegan Stewart led a balanced Roncalli attack with 16 points. Miller and Aiden Fisher each added 13.

Roncalli, 14-7 on the season, takes on rival Groton at 7 p.m. Friday in Groton for the right to advance to next week’s SoDak 16. The Tigers won a previous contest early in the season.

“Both teams have obviously improved since the last time we met in this gym back in December,” Gallagher said. “We’re excited about the matchup.”

While the Cavaliers will be underdogs, Gallagher said his team will come prepared.

“We’re coming in to fight. We’re coming in with a chance to go to the Sweet 16, and that’s our mindset,” Gallagher said. “We’re going to do what we can.”

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (14-7): Maddox Miller 6 0-0 13, Keegan Stewart 6 3-5 16, Aiden Fisher 5 2-2 13, Parker Grieben 2 4-6 8, Caden Shelton 1 0-0 2, Landon Zikmund 1 0-0 2. Totals 21-40 9-13 54.

WAUBAY-SUMMIT (14-7): Jackson Wohlleber 8 7-9 23, Jared Purdy 1 0-0 3, Dylan Rumpza 2 2-5 6, Traveion Neilan 7 1-5 16, Tigh Gaikowski 1 0-0 2. Totals 19-43 10-19 50.

Aberdeen Roncalli 15 30 40 54

Waubay-Summit 7 20 34 50 3-point field goals – Miller, Stewart, Fisher; Purdy, Neilan. Fouled out –Neilan. Total fouls – Aberdeen Roncalli 18; Waubay-Summit 16. Rebounds – Aberdeen Roncalli 22 (Stewart 6, Grieben 6); Waubay-Summit 24 (Wohlleber 7). Turnovers – Aberdeen Roncalli 13; Waubay-Summit 12.