It may only be the first week of January, but it sure felt like March inside a rocking Roncalli Gym Friday night.

Second-rated Sisseton hit clutch free throws, came up big on defense and pulled away late for a 62-55 Northeast Conference girls’ basketball win over Aberdeen Roncalli in marquee matchup of Class A unbeaten teams.

“It was kind of a slugfest tonight. It was kind of like a playoff game in early January,” said Roncalli coach Derek Larson. “This is definitely going to make both teams better.”

As expected it was a typical Roncalli-Sisseton battle with little separation most of the way. The Redmen opened up a 19-10 lead early in the second quarter only to see Roncalli close on a 20-11 run to take a 30-27 lead into halftime.

Sisseton quickly erased that deficit and played with a slim lead the rest of the evening with the Cavaliers always within striking distance. The Redmen were able to maintain their lead thanks to major contributions from reserves Alexia Quinn and Rylie Huff. The two combined for seven key points in the final quarter.

“That’s what’s good about our program and our basketball team is that they’re all tough. We all trust them out there,” said Sisseton coach Sara Lincoln. “We don’t ever tell them not to shoot. We tell them if you’re shot-ready you can go ahead and shoot the ball. We give them that rope.”

Those shots foiled the defensive strategy of the Cavaliers, who were focused on 6-foot sisters Chloe Langager and Krista Langager in the lane.

“Quinn hit a big one late, Huff bit a big one late,” Larson said. “We said we were going to give up the skip pass, because we’ve got to double the post.”

Those crucial shots gave the Redmen just enough of a cushion to be able to stay in control heading to the finish.

“We were just really focused on taking away the post,” said Roncalli’s Claire Crawford, “and credit to them, they came in and made big shots, and we weren’t planning for them to do that, so credit to them.”

Crawford nailed a 3-pointer with 1:20 left to close the gap down to 56-55, but it was the last that Roncalli would score on the evening. The Cavaliers missed a shot and had two turnovers in the final minute of play.

“It was really tough,” said Sisseton senior Emmalee Nielsen of the hard-fought contest. “We knew that just at the end we had to come together, play together, and play strong. We just had to get one stop. Our defense really won us this game.”

Nielsen definitely did her part, making four straight free throws in the final 44 seconds of action directly in front of a loud Roncalli student cheering section.

“I just try and tune them out, take a deep breath and put it through the hoop,” Nielsen said.

Chloe Langager had 16 points, and Krista Langager finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots, but the duo had plenty of help. Hannah Leverson also had 14 points, and Nielsen added eight in addition to the contributions from Quinn and Huff.

“We know that we’re going to need some of those games, because everybody is looking to stop Chloe and Krista,” Lincoln said. “We know that our other girls need to step up too, and they’re ready for the challenge. They’re ready to be there and do that, and they did that tonight.”

Ava Hanson had 19 points and McKenna O’Keefe had 11 and each grabbed seven rebounds for Roncalli. Crawford added nine points, seven in the final period to keep the Cavaliers in touch.

“I just have to have confidence in myself first. I know my teammates have confidence in me, and if I don’t have confidence, it’s not going to go in,” Crawford said. “So start with confidence in myself first and I know my teammates are there to back me up, whether I make it or miss it, they still have confidence in me.”

In the end, both squads walked away with a sense of accomplishment following the intense struggle.

“I think it just really proves that we can win and we are a good team,” Nielsen said after the Redmen improved to 8-0 on the season.

The Cavaliers also took positives away from the setback.

“They’re one of the best teams in the state,” Crawford said, “and the fact that we were able to stay with them, we know that we can stay with anybody else.”

The 6-1 Cavaliers, who host Sully Buttes on Monday, are hoping to use the game as momentum heading into the rest of the campaign.

“We hope this makes us better,” Larson said. “If we play this hard every single night, we’re going to be in a lot of games and hopefully, we’re trending in the right direction.”

SISSETON (8-0): Hannah Leverson 5 3-4 14, Emmalee Nielsen 1 6-6 8, Chloe Langager 8 0-0 16, Krista Langager 5 4-4 14, Rylie Huff 2 0-0 4, Alexia Quinn 2 1-2 6. Totals 23-49 14-16 62.

ABERDEEN RONCALLI (6-1): McKenna O’Keefe 5 0-2 11, Camryn Bain 3 0-0 7, Maddie Huber 3 1-2 7, Claire Crawford 4 0-0 9, Ava Hanson 8 1-1 19, Morgan Helms 1 0-0 2. Totals 24-59 2-5 55.

Sisseton 12 27 43 62

Aberdeen Roncalli 10 30 40 55

3-point field goals – Leverson, Quinn; O’Keefe, Bain, Crawford, Hanson (2). Total fouls – Sisseton 11; Aberdeen Roncalli 12. Rebounds – Sisseton 28 (K. Langager 7); Aberdeen Roncalli 29 (O’Keefe 7, Hanson 7). Turnovers – Sisseton 10; Aberdeen Roncalli 11. Blocked Shots – Sisseton 6 (K. Langager 4); Aberdeen Roncalli 1 (O’Keefe).