High school girls basketball: Sioux Valley tops Dell Rapids, Howard, improves to 6-3

The Sioux Valley girls basketball team improved to 6-3 over the weekend as the Cossacks beat Dell Rapids on Friday night and Howard on Saturday.

The Cossacks will return to the court on Tuesday night and they host De Smet at 7:30 p.m. They will then play in the Big East Tournament, which begins on Thursday. They are the No. 3 seed and host No. 6 seeded Chester at 7:30 p.m.

Friday

Sioux Valley 58, Dell Rapids 40

DELL RAPIDS The Cossacks used a strong second half to get the win on Friday night.

Sioux Valley fell behind 13-5 in the first quarter but then outscored Dell Rapids 17-8 in the second and took a 22-21 lead into halftime. The Cossacks then outscored the Quarriers 21-11 in the third to push the lead to 11 and had a 15-8 advantage in the fourth to secure victory.

Sioux Valley shot 35.2% from the field and was 7-of-28 from three. Kailey Cradduck led the Cossacks with 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Liberty Trygstad had 11 points. Talya Vincent had nine points, five assists and two steals. Jada Knutson had seven points, seven rebounds and five steals.

Dell Rapids shot 26.5% from the field and was 3-of-17 from three.Rorie Thoreson had 14 points to lead to the Quarriers. Jersi Schultz had seven points.

Dell Rapids had 36 rebounds and Sioux Valley had 35. The Quarriers had 22 turnovers and the Cossacks had 13. Sioux Valley was 13-of-21 at the free throw line and Dell Rapids was 11-of-18.

Saturday

Sioux Valley 68, Howard 53

MADISON It was a strong first and fourth quarter that lifted Sioux Valley on Saturday. The Cossacks outscored the Tigers 18-7 in the first and led 35-22 at halftime. Howard would outscore Sioux Valley 21-15 in the third but the Cossacks had a 18-10 advantage in the fourth to get the win.

Sioux Valley shot 42.9% from the field and was 14-of-36 from three. Isabelle Bloker went 6-of-9 from three and had 26 points to lead the Cossacks. Talya Vincent had 13 points and six assists. Liberty Trygstad had 12 points and three steals. Keyra Kruse had 11 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.

Abby Aslesen had a huge game for Howard as she had 31 points and 12 rebounds. Elizabeth Albrech had 11 points and Dakota Spader had seven points.

The Cossacks had 33 rebounds and Tigers had 38. Each team had 15 turnovers. The Tigers were 17-of-21 at the free throw line and the Cossacks were 12-of-17.