High school girls basketball: Flandreau Fliers win Big East Conference tournament

The Flandreau girls basketball team won the Big East Tournament on Saturday afternoon. The Fliers beat Sioux Valley 55-29 in the championship game.

Flandreau beat Garretson 51-22 in the semifinals and the Cossacks beat Beresford 68-46 to advance to the championship.

Saturday’s championship

Flandreau 55, Sioux Valley 29

BERESFORD The Fliers used a strong second quarter to pull away from the Cossacks in the championship game. Flandreau led 14-12 at the end of the first quarter. The Fliers then shut out the Cossacks in the second quarter and took a 32-12 lead into halftime. They would extend 46-20 at the end of the third and that allowed them to cruise to the conference tournament title.

Claire Sheppard led the Fliers with 21 points. Lily Klein and Lizzie Pavlis each had 13 points.

The Cossacks were led by Kailey Cradduck who had 11 points. Liberty Trygstad had six points and Keyra Kruse and Talya Vincent each had five points.

Friday’s semifinals

Flandreau 51, Garretson 22

GARRETSON The Fliers got out to a fast start in the semifinals as they led the Blue Dragons 19-5 at the end of the first quarter. They then took a 33-13 lead into halftime and extended the lead to 51-19 at the end of the third. Flandreau was outscored 3-0 in the final quarter but it didnt matter.

Flandreau shot 46.8% from the field and was 0-of-6 from three. The Fliers were led by Klein and Sheppard who each had 13 points. Klein also had six assists, six rebounds and two steals. Sadie Iott had 10 points, five assists and four steals.

Garretson shot 24.3% and was 1-of-12 from three. The Blue Dragons were led by Sydney Olson who had eight points.

Sioux Valley 68, Beresford 46

VOLGA The Cossacks trailed 16-14 at the end of the first quarter but a strong second quarter put them in front for good. They outscored the Watchdogs 21-10 in the second to take a 35-26 lead into halftime. Beresford cut the lead to 43-37 at the end of the third but the Cossacks outscored the Watchdogs 25-9 in the final frame to pull away and advance to the championship.

The Cossacks shot 47.2% from the field and were 14-of-32 from three. Isabelle Bloker led Sioux Valley with 26 points and hit eight 3-pointers. Trygstad had 17 points and six rebounds. Vincent and Cradduck each had nine points.

Beresford shot 30% from the field and was 5-of-17 from three. The Watchdogs were led by Ella Merrigan who had 25 points. Lily Seivert had 11 points.