VOLGA Isabelle Bloker scored her 1,000th career point as part of an explosive third quarter as Sioux Valley defeated Chester 59-51 to advance in the Girls Big East Conference Tournament at the Cossack Center on Thursday night.
Bloker reached the milestone on a 3-pointer with 4:27 left in the third quarter and helped the Cossacks earn a matchup with Beresford in the BEC Tournament semifinals at the Cossack Center on Friday night.
It couldnt have happened to a better person, let alone the basketball player, Sioux Valley head coach Jamie Granum said after the game. She is a tremendous worker and a tremendous competitor that puts in a lot of time. Good things happen to people that put in a lot of time at their craft, but its just more about her as a person as well.
Blokers milestone came after a first half where the Cossacks struggled to find a rhythm on offense. Sioux Valley shot just 27 percent in the first half and found themselves down 16-11 at the end of the first quarter.
I thought in the first half we were just really panicky, Granum said. We want to play fast but not frantic and not at an out-of-control pace. We were throwing three-foot bullet passes. We were out of sorts. We werent using our short corner very well and the list goes on and on.
Despite the rough half Granum and the Cossacks remained confident going into the locker room thanks to the interior duo of Kailey Cradduck, who finished with 19 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and three steals and Jada Knutson, who grabbed 10 rebounds on the night.
We came into the locker room at halftime and I was more calm than anything, Granum said. We were only down seven points, we hadnt played great basketball but we just let our offense work.
That led to a big third quarter where the Cossacks lit up the scoreboard with 32 points. Sioux Valley jumped in front initially with Cradducks 3-pointer with 5:01 left in the third quarter and Bloker put the Cossacks up for good, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers including her 1,000th career point to give the Cossacks a 36-31 lead with 3:46 left in the third quarter.
The offense continued to roll from there, with Sioux Valley shooting 44 percent in the second half and using their perimeter shooters to secure the win.
Bloker finished with 13 points on the night while Talya Vincent had seven points, nine assists and four rebounds. The Cossacks also connected on 8-of-30 (26.7%) of their 3-pointers and Kyara Kruse had a big game with 15 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.
Were hard to guard if teams want to play zone like Chester did, Granum said. Were able to find our short corner and our high post and theyve got to respect those two players. Kyara and Jada were big inside and thats going to open things up because we have more than one perimeter shooter.
Jacy Wolf led Chester with 21 points and six steals while Katelyn Schut and Emery Larson had nine points each. Emmerson Eppard also had five points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the loss.
Chester shot 29 percent in the game including 4-for-21 (19%) on 3-pointers. The Flyers also made 7-of-20 free throws.
The win gave the Cossacks an 8-3 record on the season ahead of Fridays matchup with Beresford, who defeated Baltic earlier in the other quarterfinal at the Cossack Center. While Granum believes his team will be ready for that game, he also took time to acknowledge Blokers moment while also noting the teamwork that made it happen.
1,000-point scorers dont happen without good teammates and good teams, Granum said. Weve got a combination of both, so theyre just super happy for her. What a personal accomplishment for her and we celebrate team accomplishments, so Im just really proud of her.
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