WATERTOWN — Aberdeen Roncalli came out on top in a matchup of defending state champs.

Behind a strong defensive effort, the Cavaliers topped White River 59-44 in Friday’s consolation semifinals at the Class B state girls basketball tournament. The contest featured two state champs from last season in Roncalli (Class A) and White River (Class B).

On the heels of their upset defeat against Viborg-Hurley on Thursday, the Cavaliers (23-2) were sound defensively and held the Tigers (18-5) in check throughout the game. 

“We really challenged the kids to go play hard and play as hard as they could,” Roncalli coach Derek Larson said. “I thought they did that, for sure most of three quarters. We gave up some shots in the fourth, but I was really pleased and happy with how hard we played.”

Roncalli’s Morgan Fiedler (18 points), Olivia Hanson (17 points) and Madelyn Bragg (16 points) each scored in double figures. 

But Hanson’s defense on White River’s Maleighya Estes was key to the win. Estes is the state’s 17th all-time leading girls basketball scorer with more than 2,100 career points. 

“Olivia had a lot of good players she played against last year also,” Larson said. “This is up there with the best in the state and I know she scored a lot of points, but she earned the points she got for sure.”

White River's Maleighya Estes, right, attacks the basket against Roncalli's Olivia Hanson on Friday in Watertown. (Ryan Deal / 605 Sports)

She finished with 25 points on Friday, but finished 9 of 30 from the field and 0 of 6 at the 3-point line. 

“She’s shifty, she’s got moves and she’s kind of hard to stop,” Hanson said. “But you have to sit down and get in front of her. You know you are going to get screens for her to get open and get through that screen and get back on her.” 

Hanson helped hold Estes to four points in the first half on 0 of 14 shooting from the field and 4 of 7 at the foul line. The Tigers shot 3 of 24 in the first half. 

“We defended much better in the first half and made them take some of those tough ones,” Larson said. “We did a really good job of defensive rebounding. We limited them to pretty much one opportunity each time down the floor, which was a big impact on the game today.”

Roncalli finished with 26 defensive rebounds and outrebounded the Tigers, 35-26. Offensively, the Cavaliers shot 10 of 24 in the first half to fuel a 29-11 halftime lead. They shot 13 of 26 from the field in the second half and built a 26-point lead en route to the win. 

White River’s Lilly Krogman and Kamaria Krogman added six points apiece. Kelsey Morrison scored five points for the Tigers, who will play conference foe Wall for seventh place on Saturday.

The Cavaliers will play crosstown foe Aberdeen Christian in Friday’s consolation championship.  

“It will definitely be an emotional one watching those kids play for the last time and oftentimes you never know when your last game is in high school and they know tomorrow is going to be the last one,” Larson said. “I am just happy for them to be able to have a chance to win their last game.”