MADISON – A taller Dell Rapids squad used its advantage inside to turn back Aberdeen Roncalli Saturday afternoon.

The Quarriers pulled away from a slim lead in the third quarter to pick up a 63-46 basketball victory during the boys’ NEC-Dak XII Clash in Madison.

Roncalli trailed by six at the half and by four midway through the third period before things started to turn.

“I thought we played really well all throughout the first half and the first half of the third quarter,” said Roncalli coach Dan Gallagher. “What really started to bite us in the butt was just offensive rebounds, second-chance opportunities.”

The Quarriers, who have six players at least 6-foot-3 or taller, got into the lane and that caused Roncalli problems.

“There was a lot of size to it. They’re just really good at driving in the lane so they create a lot of rotations, so we’re kind of scrambling at times to find a new man,” Gallagher said. “When you’re on the run in the lane, you’re losing site of your man and you’re trying to pick up a new man. That’s part of it, too, but size was definitely a factor.”

The Cavaliers had two players foul out and ended up committing 20 fouls in the contest. Gallagher said his squad was too aggressive.

He said there is a direct correlation between fouls and results.

“Every game that we’ve won we’ve been under a total of 14 fouls,” he said, “and games that we’ve lost we’ve been over 16, and this was one of those cases.”

Brayden Pankonen had 17 points, Landon Ruesink 13 and Jack Henry 10 for Dell Rapids, 10-3 on the season.

Keegan Stewart had a game-high 19 points for Roncalli. Maddox May followed with 10 and Jayden Munroe added eight.

Gallagher knew his team was in a for a tough test against Dells, but also saw what his squad accomplished.

“We knew that they’re an athletic team that has really good shooters and obviously had some size, too, so it was going to be a fun matchup. We knew it was going to be a handful, but I thought our guys overall played well,” Gallagher said. “But we’re not really into the moral victories, either. We knew it was going to be a tough game. We knew it was going to be a battle all the way through, but we saw what the score was at halftime. We saw where we were in the third quarter. Now, it’s about correcting those mistakes so that the next time if we play another team like that we can come out on top.”

Roncalli, 4-9 on the season, plays Potter County at Hoven on Tuesday. The Battlers have lost just one game all season.

“We definitely have our hands full, but we’re looking forward to it,” Gallagher said, “because we saw the way we can play against a talented A school and now we’re going to go up against a talented B school again.”

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (4-9): Maddox Miller 2 0-0 4, Zee Mounga 2 0-0 5, Keegan Stewart 5 5-6 19, Maddox May 3 4-8 10, Jayden Munroe 3 2-3 8. Totals 15 11-18 46.

DELL RAPIDS (10-3): Landon Ruesink 4 4-5 13, Brayden Pankonen 4 6-6 17, Jack Henry 4 1-7 10, Aiden Boechler 1 0-0 2, Shane Stone 3 1-3 7, Camden Justice 2 0-0 4, Luke Randall 3 0-0 6, Tad Tjaden 2 0-1 4. Totals 23 12-22 63

Aberdeen Roncalli 14 25 34 46

Dell Rapids 17 31 43 63

3-point field goals – Mounga, Stewart 4; Fouled out – Miller, Mounga. Total fouls – Aberdeen Roncalli 20; Dell Rapids. 15.