MOBRIDGE – A quick start from Mobridge-Pollock left Aberdeen Roncalli spinning its wheels Tuesday night, as the Tigers held off the Cavaliers 56-43 in a non-conference boys’ basketball contest.

The Tigers opened with a 15-9 advantage after the opening stanza, and Roncalli could never quite get any traction on a comeback.

“They got off to a fast start and just kind of held on to it the whole game,” said Cavaliers’ coach Dan Gallagher.

Gallagher said he liked the way his defense played for the most part, but said the Cavaliers gave up too many offensive rebounds, which led to multiple scoring opportunities on some possessions.

“That was an Achilles heel for us last year,” he said. “We’re working on it this year. Definitely an emphasis we’ve got to get better at.”

Despite not being able to turn the key on a comeback, the Cavaliers never went away either, hanging around just close enough to pose a threat.

“We also didn’t capitalize on our own opportunities,” Gallagher said. “One possession, we had six shots in the paint, and only two were really contested. They ended up getting the defensive rebound. Just little things like that.”

Brody Weinmeister finished with 14 points to lead the Cavaliers in the scoring column. Jesse Hernandez added 12, while Sam Larson finished with seven.

Mobridge-Pollock was led by Shooter Frederick’s 15 points, all on 3-point buckets. Shane Henderson added 12 points and Kale Knudson chimed in with 10.

Gallagher said Tuesday’s game was a learning opportunity, both for the guys and for himself.

“It showed me some different things, too,” he said. “We didn’t have a great game plan in for the pressure that they brought. We didn’t see a lot of that on film.”

Roncalli will look to get back into the win column on Thursday when the Cavaliers host Warner in another non-conference contest.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (0-1): Jesse Hernandez 4 3-4 12, Aiden Fisher 2 1-2 5, Brody Weinmeister 6 0-2 14, Sam Larson 2 2-2 7, Parker Grieben 1 1-2 3, Austin Fisher 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 7-12 43.

MOBRIDGE-POLLOCK (2-0): Shooter Frederick 5 0-0 15, Easton Eismann 3 3-10, Kale Knudson 4 2-2 10, Jackson Eisemann 4 0-1 8, Shane Henderson 6 0-0 13, Kyson Goodshield 2 0-0 6. Totals 24 3-11 56.

Aberdeen Roncalli 9 24 35 43

Mobridge-Pollock 15 30 42 56

3-point field goals – Hernandez 3, Weinmeister 2, Larson; Frederick 5. Fouls – Aberdeen Roncalli 14; Mobridge-Pollock 15.