Aberdeen Roncalli used a stellar start to finish off its first boys’ basketball foe of the season Friday night.

The Cavaliers jumped out to an 11-1 lead, received contributions from all five starters in the opening quarter and claimed a 61-34 Northeast Conference victory over Redfield at Roncalli Gym.

“I thought our offense played pretty well overall,” said Roncalli Dan Gallagher.

While Sam Franks, Brody Weinmeister, Parker Grieben, and Aiden Fisher all scored in the first eight minutes, it was Jesse Hernandez who led the fast start with seven first-quarter points in his first varsity start.

When asked about the challenge of finding the right chemistry with a pair of new players in the starting lineup, Hernandez said it’s not an issue.

“I don’t think it’s challenging at all really, because me Brody, Parker and Fish, we’ve been playing since probably seventh grade, I played up with them in eighth grade,” Hernandez said. “And adding Sam (from Aberdeen Central), he’s just a good overall player. He understands his role and he plays really well with this team. … We just play really well as a team.”

While Franks left the game with an injury early in the contest, the Cavaliers never lost their double-digit margin they built in the opening quarter.

The Pheasants continued to hang around though thanks in part to their mid-range shooting.

“Our defense kind of lacked some intensity at times, and really turned it up in the second half,” Gallagher said. “The only issue was they just weren’t missing those mid-range jumpers.”

Redfield got a big lift off the bench from freshman Grady Hulscher, who ended up with a career-high 12 points.

“I just try and get my teammates involved as much as I can,” Hulscher said.

Despite being one of the youngest players on the floor, Hulscher drove fearlessly into the lane and scored on one occasion with a left-handed finish. He said it’s something he has worked on for years.

“First I started on my mini-hoop and then just kind of got used to using my left hand,” Hulscher said. “It’s just habit from there.”

Despite the 27-point setback, the Pheasants felt they showed signs of progress compared to a year ago.

“I said we can take a lot of positives out of this, a lot of positives,” Redfield coach Lance Howe told his players following the contest. “We’re still young. We’re running freshmen, sophomores out there and we’re lacking size.”

Hulscher also believed that the Pheasants showed marked improvement from last year’s difficult season.

“The game felt way better tonight,” Hulscher said. “It felt like we had better chemistry and moved the ball a lot more.”

Ruben Alvarez added nine points to the Redfield total.

Fisher powered Roncalli with 20 points. Hernandez added a dozen points and also solid defense.

“We knew he was a good offensive player. What I was really impressed by was his intensity on the defensve end,” Gallagher said. “We were really challenging our guys on the sideline. We need to get a stop and play aggressive. He immediately gets a steal, goes in transition and gets fouled. That’s what we need to see.”

Hernandez also displayed a steady floor game.

“From what I remember no turnovers,” Gallagher said, “but facilitated the game really well and took smart shots, good shots.”

Hernandez, a standout golfer, said he uses the same mindset in basketball that he has on the links.

“What I think I carried over from golf into basketball is always being loose and never being tense,” Hernandez said, “because when you’re tense you tend to overdo something or underdo something, but when you’re loose you feel comfortable, and you do what you do best.”

Roncalli hits the road on Tuesday for a game against Mobridge-Pollock, led by a pair of solid players in Jackson Eismann and Shane Henderson.

“Jackson’s solid, Henderson’s solid. They’re going to be a tough team,” Gallagher said, “so we’re going to have to be ready to go.”

REDFIELD (0-1): Jackson Rude 1 0-0 3, Micah Zastrow 1 0-0 2, Isaac Banister 2 0-0 4, Ethan Falk 0 1-2 1, Ruben Alvarez 4 1-2 9, Grady Hulscher 5 1-2 12, Emmanuel Jordan 1 0-0 3. Totals 14-40 3-6 34.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (1-0): Jesse Hernandez 5 1-1 12, Aiden Fisher 8 1-2 20, Sam Franks 1 0-0 3, Brody Weinmeister 3 0-2 6, Parker Grieben 4 0-4 8, Sam Larson 2 0-0 6, Quinten Shelton 1 0-0 2, Austin Fisher 1  0-0 2, Tom Niederbaumer 1 0-0 2, Ian Kramer 0 0-2 0. Totals 26-63 2-11 61.

Redfield 7 19 29 34

Aberdeen Roncalli 21 36 56 61

3-point field goals – Rude, Hulscher, Jordan; Hernandez, Aiden Fisher 3, Franks, Larson 2. Total fouls – Redfield 10; Aberdeen Roncalli 7. Rebounds – Redfield 26 (Falk 6, Alvarez 5, Zastrow 5); Aberdeen Roncalli 45 (Grieben 9, Aiden Fisher 7). Turnovers – Redfield 12; Aberdeen Roncalli 6.