VOLGA Before Sioux Valley opened its playoff run against Great Plains Lutheran on Tuesday night, Cossacks head coach Jamie Granum had a good feeling about Isabelle Bloker.
Bloker, who surpassed 1,000 career points earlier this season, was knocking down shots in warmups and Granum turned to his coaches and said a simple phrase before the opening tip.
This girl shows up in the postseason.
Granums observation was correct as Bloker scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Cossacks over the Panthers 64-50 in a Regional 2A Tournament game at the Cossack Center in Volga.
Bloker was the catalyst for the Sioux Valley offense but it was the interior game that got the Cossacks going in the first quarter. Kailey Cradduck scored 11 of her 18 points in the opening frame to help Sioux Valley take a 20-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and Keyra Kruse was also effective, scoring 12 points to go with six rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal in the game to run the Cossacks lead up to double digits.
With Sioux Valley pulling away, Bloker started to fill it up, connecting on 10-of-18 shots including 8-of-13 3-pointers. With three rebounds and a steal on the night, Bloker helped Sioux Valley go into halftime with a 37-22 lead and take a 53-34 lead after three quarters.
When she shoots it prior to catching it, Ive been around her enough to know when shes lights out, Granum said. Even before the game we were talking about how much she shows up in the postseason. She went ahead and showed up big time for us tonight.
Blokers performance helped Sioux Valley shoot 44 percent from the floor in the game including 12-of-28 (42.9%) on 3-pointers. While Sioux Valley missed their only free throw and was out-rebounded 31-28, they took care of the ball with 11 turnovers to secure their sixth win in their past seven games.
Were playing really good basketball at the right time, Granum said. You always kind of want to be playing really good basketball coming into the postseason, so tonight, our home crowd showed up and we played well and matched if not exceeded their energy.
Great Plains Lutheran did their best to neutralize the crowd with three players in double figures. Abby Kjenestad had 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and a block and Katherin Prahl had 11 points, five assists and three rebounds. Olivia Holman had 10 points, nine rebounds, a steal and a block for the Panthers.
With the Panthers shooting 41 percent in the game but just 3-of-11 (27.3%) on 3-pointers, Granum was impressed with his teams defensive effort, which forced GPL into 20 turnovers.
This is a team thats won a lot of games too, Granum said of the Panthers. We knew coming in it was going to be a battle and nothing this season that has happened for us has come without a lot of hard work and preparation behind the scenes.
Granums words foreshadow Thursdays matchup as Sioux Valley will travel to Flandreau with a spot in the SoDak 16 on the line.
The Cossacks dropped both matchups with the Fliers in the regular season with a 55-29 loss in the Big East Conference Tournament on Jan. 27 and another 49-37 loss six days later in Flandreau. But Sioux Valley remains confident heading into the game with hopes they can pull off the upset.
We just need to come out super confident, Granum said. Its a game where we dont have anything to lose. But I tell you, I believe in our team. If theres a team that can play with Flandreau, we are that team.
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