SISSETON – Aberdeen Roncalli’s proficient outside shooting wasn’t quite enough to overcome Sisseton’s size advantage in the lane Friday night.

The Cavaliers nailed a dozen three-point field goals to stay within striking distance before falling to the unbeaten Redmen 58-49 in a Northeast Conference girls’ basketball contest.

“We’re disappointed in the outcome, but definitely not disappointed in the effort that we gave,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson. “We battled from start to finish.”

The Cavaliers showed from the opening whistle that they came to play, making three three-pointers to take a 9-0 lead in the first few minutes of the contest, two coming from Maddie Huber and one by Ava Hanson.

Sisseton battled back and grabbed its first lead with 3:35 left in the second quarter and went into the half up 24-20.

The Redmen threatened to pull away in the third with a 38-29 lead before the Cavaliers made back-to-back-to-back three-pointers to tie the score, two by Camryn Bain and the other by McKenna O’Keefe.

The host squad rebuilt another nine-point advantage in the final quarter and this time Roncalli was unable to get over the hump.

“I’m really proud of the kids’ effort,” Larson said. “We couldn’t have played a lot harder than we did.”

A big factor in the contest was Sisseton’s inside presence with 6-1 sisters Chloe and Krista Langager. They were a force on both ends of the floor.

“Obviously, we knew were completely undersized in the post,” Larson said. “The first half we did a great job making sure that we only gave up one shot every time down the floor.”

That changed a bit in the second half as the Redmen scored six points directly on offensive rebounds.

“I thought they got loose and had some offensive boards the second half, which hurt us,” Larson said. “It is tough to do. When you’re 6-7 inches shorter than the other person, and they outweigh you by 50 pounds, it’s tough.”

The Cavaliers were able to combat that disadvantage by connecting time after time from beyond the three-point arc.

“We knew we weren’t going to be able to score a ton inside with their length. When you have 6-1, 6-1 both standing in the middle, we knew we couldn’t just live and die by layups just trying to go inside,” Larson said. “We knew we we’re going to have to shoot it well to have a chance to win. Give the girls credit. We shot the ball well tonight. Twelve made threes, that’s probably the most we’ve had all year.”

Krista Langager had a game-high 25 points to lead the Redmen, 8-0 on the season. Emmalee Nielsen and Chloe Langager each contributed nine, and Tara Nelson added eight.

Huber topped the Cavaliers with 13 points, including four three-pointers. Claire Crawford followed with 11 points, O’Keefe had nine, and Bain and Hanson each finished with eight.

“The balance of scoring tonight was really good,” Larson said. “It wasn’t like it was one person who shot it well. I thought we shot it well as a whole.”

Roncalli, 5-3 on the season, plays host to Tiospa Zina on Tuesday night at Roncalli Gym in a girls-boys doubleheader.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (5-3): McKenna O’Keefe 4 0-0 9, Camryn Bain 3 0-0 8, Maddie Huber 4 1-2 13, Claire Crawford 4 0-0 11, Ava Hanson 2 3-4 8. Totals 17 4-6 49.

SISSETON (8-0): Hannah Leverson 1 0-0 3, Emmalee Nielsen 4 0-0 9, Tara Nelson 3 0-0 8, Chloe Langager 3 3-6 9, Krista Langager 10 5-6 25, Rylie Huff 0 1-4 1, Ruby Rice 1 0-0 3. Totals 22 9-16 58.

Aberdeen Roncalli 12 20 40 49

Sisseton 9 24 44 58

3-point field goals – O’Keefe, Bain 2, Huber 4, Crawford 3, Hanson; Leverson, Nielsen, Nelson 2, Rice. Total fouls – Aberdeen Roncalli 15; Sisseton 7.