It turned out there was enough chaos to go around as Roncalli prevailed 66-43 in Aberdeen Tuesday night. Northwestern rushed to a 5-1 lead in the first 90 seconds, forcing Roncalli into turnovers with an effective full-court press. In the second quarter and first minutes of the second half, however, Roncalli had its way in building a 46-22 lead.
The last few years, Roncalli has built success on a speedy defense led by the Hanson twins. Now seniors, Tage and Taylor Hanson have taught others their ways. So even when the Hansons are not in the game, others are hawking the ball.
"They are so quick, and a lot of people can't keep up with them," said Mollee Karst of her twin teammates, who have a habit of giving night terrors to opponents. "Then on defense, you might get by them once in a while, but then they are right there back in your face a split second later. We play a fast game all the way around, and that is a reflection of the Hansons."
The Hansons combined for 23 points, led by Tage's 14, along with forcing numerous turnovers.
Two other speedy seniors, Karst and Morgan Gunderson, created their own chaos. Karst had 21 points, four rebounds and five steals while Gunderson had 14 points, four rebounds and five assists.
"We are excited to get that first win," Karst said. "We have been working hard this summer and we have been waiting a long time to get rid of the bad taste of how last season ended (one win away from a state tourney berth in a loss to Sisseton in the Region 1A championship)."
Roncalli coach Derek Larson saw good and bad in his team's season opener.
"We are glad to have that first one out of the way," Larson said. "We played like it was our first game as we had a lot of turnovers. We were sloppy at times, but that is going to be the result sometimes because of the up-tempo style that we play. Coming out of the first half, we did a lot better of playing under control and not getting too greedy on defense. We played within ourselves and tipped a lot of balls and that created a lot of offense for us."
Northwestern got 15 points and six blocked shots from Ashley Clemens. Jordon Peterson added 12 points and nine rebounds.
Northwestern will continue play in Aberdeen this week taking on Aberdeen Christian at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Aberdeen Civic Arena. Roncalli will next play at Mobridge-Pollock on Tuesday.
NORTHWESTERN: Kimberly Miles 0 3-4 3, Ashley Clemens 4 5-8 15, Jordon Peterson 4 4-6 12, Julia Sparling 0 0-2 0, Kennedi Sparling 2 3-3 7, Courtlen Lechner 0 2-4 2, Christine Morgan 1 2-2 4. Totals 11-47 19-29 43.
ABERDEEN RONCALLI: Tage Hanson 5 2-2 14, Taylor Hanson 3 3-5 9, Morgan Gunderson 5 3-6 14, Mollee Karst 9 3-3 21, Paige Sommers 0 0-2 0, Mikayla Malsam 0 2-2 2, Hailey Kline 3 0-0 6. Totals 25-50 13-17 66.
Northwestern (0-1)|13 22 29 43
Roncalli (1-0)|14 37 51 66
3-point field goals -- Northwestern 2 (Clemens 2); Roncalli 3 (Tage Hanson 2, Gunderson 1). Fouled out -- Northwestern, Julia Sparling. Total fouls -- Northwestern 18; Roncalli 23. Rebounds -- Northwestern 28 (Peterson 9); Roncalli 33 (Gunderson 4, Karst 4). Turnovers -- Northwestern 23; Roncalli 23. Officials -- Tom Waage, Lee Johnson.