After facing an early deficit, Aberdeen Roncalli found its rhythm on Monday night.

The Cavaliers pulled away for a 58-35 Northeast Conference boys’ basketball win on senior night over Clark-Willow Lake in a contest that featured several first-half scoring runs at Roncalli Gym.

Roncalli senior Caden Shelton said the Cavaliers fed off of their own momentum throughout much of the contest.

“We just got momentum going and we just kept building off of it for a little bit,” Shelton said. “They got theirs, but I think we just were in good spirit, we were ready to battle, and we kept our run going throughout the whole game.”

However, it was Clark-Willow Lake that got the scoring going early, beginning the game on a 7-0 run on a 3-point basket by freshman Bo Begeman, followed by a pair of baskets by sophomore Emmerson Larson.

Larson said a good warm-up during the pregame helped the Cyclones get off to the hot start.

“It was just preparing (in) the pregame, getting a good warm-up in, and staying prepared,” Larson said.

While the Cavaliers faced an early deficit, Roncalli coach Dan Gallagher said his team was not worried.

“It was tough because we weren’t playing bad,” Gallagher said. “A couple of their shots they had three seconds left on the shot clock. It’s not like we were playing poor defense or anything like that, so I don’t think we were worried as coaches. We were just waiting for the offense to take off.”

After allowing Clark-Willow Lake to take an early lead, Roncalli’s offense began to roll. The Cavaliers’ first points came on a basket by Keegan Stewart with 3:14 left in the opening period. It was the beginning of a 28-3 Cavalier run that extended well into the second quarter.

“It was big-time defense and big-time offense kind of coming together for the first time in a while it seems like for us,” Gallagher said of the run.

Cyclones coach Jerome Nesheim gave credit to Roncalli’s defense, which gave his team problems during the run.

“We really wanted to come out and be very aggressive right off the bat, and they came out and put some pressure on us and their full court (pressure) caused some turnovers early,” Nesheim said. “We didn’t adjust quick enough.”

However, the Cyclones battled back, ending the half on a 15-4 run in the final 4 minutes and 48 seconds to cut the Roncalli lead down to 32-25.

“It was another one of those things where it wasn’t poor defense or anything. Their shooters made some shots; I mean, they’ve got some young guys that have a quick trigger and we just weren’t in their faces by then,” Gallagher said. “We weren’t taking bad shots, either. We had a couple of really good looks, just didn’t fall, so it wasn’t a time where we needed to panic. It was good that we had halftime where we could regroup, and then from there just set the tone for the defense again.”

After the halftime break, Clark-Willow Lake cut the Roncalli lead down to five with the opening basket of the second half. But from there, the Cavaliers proved to be too much as they pulled away using effective shooting and aggressive defense to outscore the Cyclones 26-10 in the second half.

“We were just out there working, trying to get as many box-out’s and (offensive) boards as possible,” Shelton said. “Just trying to get our second-chance points.”

Although Shelton finished with just five points, it’s not his scoring that is his best contribution to the team. In addition to working hard on the offensive end, he noted that his defensive effort is what he attempts to do well to help the team succeed. The senior played a key role in that effort in Monday’s contest.

“I try to get as many stops as possible,” Shelton said. “Make sure they don’t get in the paint. Transition, I’m usually the trapper. I’ll come up once they get past half court and try to trap them, and then hopefully they’ll turn the ball over and we’ll go back on our side.”

Nesheim added that fatigue and illness also contributed to the Cyclones’ low-scoring second half.

“We’re really battling the flu right now, so we’ve got guys that are sick,” Nesheim said. “So, fatigue really hurt us early, and then when that fatigue sets in, we’re not a team that can score a bunch of points in a hurry, so when teams get a big enough lead, it just takes too much time just because of our youth.”

Freshman Sullivan Felberg led Clark-Willow Lake (9-8) with 11 points, Larson totaled 10, while Begeman had eight.

Larson said the Cyclones will need to continue to do the small things when they face Tiospa Zina tonight.

“Practice hard and get prepared, get sleep, and drink fluids,” Larson said.

Maddox Miller led the Cavaliers with 20 points, including four 3-pointers, while Keegan Stewart had 16 points. Roncalli (11-7) will play at Deuel on Thursday, and Gallagher said the team will need to be prepared for the contest.

“It’s one of the best athletes that we’ll see in Trey Maaland. We saw that in football. We know what type of dynamic athlete he is, so we’ve got a couple days to prepare, find ways that we can slow him down,” Gallagher said. “But it’s how can we build off the consistency we had today and make it even more. So, not giving up those 15-4 runs, staying within our runs, keeping the momentum on our side.”

Shelton, who was one of four Roncalli seniors playing his final regular season home game, said it was meaningful because it might be his final home game at Roncalli Gym.

“I had to put it all on the floor, because this might be my last time I play on our home court,” Shelton said. “Been playing here for the last five years, so pretty meaningful to be here for so long.”

CLARK-WILLOW LAKE (9-8): Emmerson Larson 5 0-0 10, Griffin Musser 2 0-0 4, Jack Helkenn 1 0-2 2, Bo Begeman 2 2-2 8, Sullivan Felberg 4 0-0 11. Totals 14 2-4 35.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (11-7): Maddox Miller 7 2-3 20, Caden Shelton 2 0-0 5, Keegan Stewart 5 4-7 16, Aiden Fisher 3 0-0 7, Landon Zikmund 1 0-0 2, Brody Weinmeister 1 0-0 2, Parker Grieben 3 0-0 6. Totals 22 6-10 58.

Clark-Willow Lake 10 25 31 35

Aberdeen Roncalli 13 32 48 58

3-point field goals – Felberg (3), Begeman (2); Miller (4), Stewart (2), Shelton, Fisher. Total fouls – Clark/Willow Lake 12; Aberdeen Roncalli 10.