REDFIELD – Aberdeen Roncalli relied on an old staple to start a new season Thursday night.

The Cavaliers cranked up the defense on the way to a 64-10 Northeast Conference girls’ basketball win over Redfield.

Roncalli jumped out to a 25-5 lead in the opening quarter with a full-court press that produced 10 turnovers. The Cavaliers continued to cause havoc in their half-court defense in the second quarter, forcing another 10 turnovers in opening a 43-7 halftime margin.

“We’ve always kind of said, we want to win and lose on the defensive end,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson. “I thought we really played well defensively, whether it was in the full court in the first quarter or even in the half court the last three quarters. I thought we did a good job of just making things difficult for them. We didn’t always get a steal or the trap we wanted, but I thought we made shots pretty hard.”

Meanwhile, Roncalli had more than enough offense, featuring a balanced attack.

Claire Crawford scored a game-high 14 points, followed by Rylee Voeller with 12, McKenna O’Keefe with nine, and Ava Hanson with seven.

The Cavaliers had a dozen players in all get into the scoring column.

“Everyone that got in the game scored tonight,” Larson said.

Charli Jungwirth’s five points topped the Pheasants.

Larson there were two keys heading into the game: defensive rebounding and playing physical.

“I thought they are typically a pretty good offensive rebounding team. Redfield has always been pretty physical, so we kind of had to match their physicality,” Larson said. “I thought we accomplished those two things throughout the night.”

Larson said he could tell his players were ready for an organized contest after a dozen practices.

“I thought we were just ready for a game,” Larson said. “It’s been a long 12 practices it kind of feels like with an older group.”

Roncalli will hit the road for a game against Mobridge-Pollock on Tuesday. Both teams were in the SoDak 16 last season and return the bulk of their players.

“We know a lot about them. They’ve had people start for the last 3-4 years,” Larson said. “We’ve kind of been in the same boat, so we’re both really veteran groups, and like to up and down the floor and shoot the basketball, so it’s going to be a fun night.”

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (1-0): McKenna O’Keefe 4 1-1 9, Maddie Huber 2 0-0 5, Ava Hanson 3 0-0 7, Rylee Voeller 4 2-2 12, Claire Crawford 6 0-0 14, Gabby Thomas 2 0-1 4, Morgan Helms 0 1-2 1, Kadince Glynn 1 0-0 2, Grace Cogley 1 0-0 2, Emma Vogel 1 0-0 2, Karsyn Davis 2 0-0 4, Olivia Dix 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 4-6 64.

REDFIELD (0-1): Hayden Gall 1 2-2 4, Charli Jungwirth 2 1-4 5, Layla Hardie 0 1-3 1, Ella Rude-Peterson 0 0-2 0. Totals 3 4-11 10.

Aberdeen Roncalli 25 43 54 64

Redfield 5 7 7 10

3-point field goals – Huber, Hanson, Voeller 2, Crawford 2. Total fouls – Aberdeen Roncalli 12; Redfield 7. Rebounds – Aberdeen Roncalli (Voeller 6, Hanson 6); Redfield (Kinley Smith 5, Jungwirth 3, Katryn Evans 3). Turnovers – Aberdeen Roncalli 8; Redfield 31.