VOLGA Sioux Valley extended its win streak to four games on Tuesday night as the Cossacks beat De Smet 56-42 at the Cossack Center.
The Cossacks and Bulldogs were tied 14-14 after one quarter and Sioux Valley then went on an 18-0 run at the beginning of the second quarter. De Smet scored the final seven points of the quarter and Sioux Valley took a 32-21 lead into halftime.
Sioux Valley head coach Jamie Granum said he would have liked to have seen a better start from his team but he was happy with the way they came out in the beginning of the second.
We are talking about our starts, Granum said.We even did crazy things like change warmups, to see if theres something there where we can get started faster. Our preparation in the locker room might not be where we want it to be, but were trying to figure out our starts. Because against really good teams, the game can be won or lost in the first couple minutes.
But in the second quarter, it was a matter of time before we started to make shots. Teams that want to guard us that aggressively are going to lose shooters, especially over the course of the game. So, offensively, I knew we were going to come back, we just didnt want to get into a 10-point hole.
The Cossacks then extended the lead to 45-28 in the third and led 45-31 heading into the fourth. Junior guard Isabelle Bloker led the Cossacks with 17 points but came up three points shy of the 1,000 career points milestone. Sioux Valley spent a lot of the time in the fourth quarter trying to get Bloker to the milestone but De Smet wasnt allowing it as the Bulldogs face guarded her throughout the second half.
Bloker made five threes on Tuesday night and is one of the best 3-point shooters in the state. Shes faced a lot of coverage like that this season and Granum said defenses face guarding her is a testament to how good shes become as a high school player.
Her reputation and the work shes put in over the last three years, she knows shes going to be guarded [like that]. Our team has so much confidence in her. Some of her best opportunities are going to be in transition or broken plays. Her teammates do such a great job of finding her and tonight was no different. When she doesnt hesitate and shoots with confidence, shes a lights out player, Granum said.
Each team scored 11 points in the final quarter. The Cossacks shot 36.4% from the field and were 11-of-29 from three. They were 5-of-8 at the free throw line.
Talya Vincent had 14 points and three assists for the Cossacks. Kailey Cradduck had 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Keyra Kruse had six steals, four assists and two blocks.
Sioux Valley held De Smet to 31.9% shooting and the Bulldogs were 5-of-17 from three. The Cossacks forced 23 turnovers and Granum was pleased with his teams defense in the win.
Defensively we were super active. Were growing in the aspect of rotations being better. We still have to grow up in the aspect of, as you saw in the game, our rebounding. Its in my mind right now, a couple of free throw block outs, and in those games that can end your season, those kind of things matter, Granum said.
The Bulldogs were led by Hazel Luethmers who had 16 points and five rebounds. Brooke Jennings had six points and five rebounds.
The Cossacks had a narrow advantage on the glass as they had 26 rebounds and the Bulldogs had 24. Sioux Valley had 25 turnovers and 15 steals. De Smet had three steals and was 7-of-12 at the free throw line.
Its been an up-and-down season so far for the Cossacks, who improved to 7-3 on Tuesday night. They won their first three games of the season and then lost three in-a-row before this four-game win streak.
Sioux Valley will play in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament on Thursday in Volga. The Cossacks will be the No. 3 seed in the tournament and will play No. 6 seeded Chester at 7:30 p.m. Sioux Valley beat 61-55 the Flyers on Jan. 16.
Granum said there are still some improvements to be made but he likes where his team is at at this point in the season.
Weve put good practices together, so obviously our performance and play has improved, Granum said. We get a rematch with Chester. Were dialing into a couple of things defensively that we need to get better at. You saw a couple of achilles tonight and thats our rebounding. But I like where were at. Were growing as a team.
Were an inexperienced team with a couple freshmen getting big minutes. Jada Knutson played a lot of JV basketball last year and Talya Vincent was injured and played a lot of JV basketball. So, I think sometimes the expectations, and we want high expectations obviously, but sometimes the expectations of where were at and who we have and whats coming back, were still growing as a team and improving.
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