CLARK – Aberdeen Roncalli’s hot start to the night dissolved in a flurry of Clark-Willow Lake scoring at the end of the first half, as the Cyclones managed to fend off the Cavaliers for a 40-31 Northeast Conference girls’ basketball victory Thursday night in Clark.

Roncalli had the upper hand initially, leading 19-10 at one point.

Clark-Willow Lake, however, used a 10-0 run to end the first half of play and never trailed again, holding off every Cavalier attempt to rally down the stretch.

“We were up 19-10, and they called a time out,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson. “I thought we defended well up to that point, but from that point on, I don’t think we defended all that well. Gave up too much dribble-drive to the rim and just did some things that weren’t very consistent.”

Ava Hanson finished with nine points for Roncalli, most of which came in the second half. Claire Crawford finished with seven, all in the first half. Camryn Bain also chipped in seven points for the Cavaliers.

“I know we didn’t score a lot of points, but the bigger thing is we just didn’t defend well,” Larson said.

Clark-Willow Lake got 11 points from Alicia Vig and 10 more from Tehya Vig and Musonda Kabwe. As a team, the Cyclones were 9-of-15 from the free-throw line.

Roncalli will try to rebound on Tuesday when they host top-ranked Hamlin at Roncalli Gym.

“It’s going to get tougher here,” Larson said. “Hamlin on Tuesday, number one team in state. We’ve got to get better on the defensive end.”

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (6-4): McKenna O’Keefe 1 1-2 3, Camryn Bain 2 2-2 7, Maddie Huber 1 0-0 2, Claire Crawford 3 0-0 7, Ava Hanson 3 3-4 9, Rylee Voeller 1 1-1 3. Totals 11 7-9 31.

CLARK-WILLOW LAKE (4-7): Musonda Kabwe 3 3-6 10, Kayla Jordan 2 2-3 7, Tehya Vig 4 1-2 10, Summer Seefeldt 1 0-0 2, Alicia Vig 4 3-4 11. Totals 14 9-15 40.

Aberdeen Roncalli 12 19 22 31

Clark-Willow Lake 9 20 28 40

3-point field goals – Bain, Crawford; Kabwe, Jordan, T. Vig. Total fouls – Aberdeen Roncalli 16; Clark-Willow Lake 14. Rebounds – Aberdeen Roncalli (Hanson 7); Clark-Willow Lake (T. Vig 12). Assists – Aberdeen Roncalli (Hanson 3); Clark-Willow Lake (Kabwe 6). Steals – Aberdeen Roncalli (Hanson, Bain, O’Keefe); Clark-Willow Lake (T. Vig 2).