VOLGA The Sioux Valley girls basketball team got out to a fast start on Friday night and that led to a 62-43 victory over Custer.
The Cossacks outscored the Wildcats 29-15 in the opening quarter. Sioux Valley head coach Jamie Granum said his starting lineup’s depth really showed in the first quarter.
We moved the ball and made shots [in the first half]. We talked about in the beginning of the season about how we have five players on the court that can all score the basketball and at our level in Class A, not a lot of teams can say that. We have to be guarded at every level and all five positions.
Sioux Valley increased its lead to 43-25 by halftime. The second half was more even as the Wildcats outscored the Cossacks 12-10 in the third quarter. Sioux Valley then held a 9-6 advantage in the final frame to make the final 62-43.
Granum said he thought his team slowed down a little bit in the second half, but he liked the way they answered to some different looks that Custers defense threw at them.
We were talking about the second half as a coaching staff. Were we a little bit slow because we were scoreboard watching or did [Custers] physicality step up a little bit. It felt to me like they were face guarding [our guards] a little bit and trying to take them out of the game, but were a hard team to do that against, Granum said.
Sioux Valley shot 40.7% from the field and was 8-of-27 from three. The Cossacks were led by Liberty Trygstad who had 17 points. Kailey Cradduck had 13 points and five rebounds. Talya Vincent had 12 points and Keyra Kruse had 13 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Kruse has had a strong start to the season and Granum said he thinks its because she realizes that this is the last season of her high school career.
Shes more disciplined. She knows that this is her final run in a Cossack uniform and sometimes that hits differently with people. She also knows, looking to her left and her right, we have talent around her. We need her presence on the floor. Her ability to pass, her ability to shoot. She rebounds out of her area and for a girls basketball player, thats incredible, Granum said.
The Cossacks held the Wildcats to 30% shooting from the field and they were 7-of-7 from three. Sioux Valley forced 24 turnovers and Granum said he thought his defense did a good job of guarding in man-to-man.
Defensively, we tried to mix some things up. Weve played more man-to-man defense this year than any year since Ive been here. We feel athletically were better than we have been, and then theres a mindset that goes with that defense. Thats probably been on me in the past and Im trying to be a better coach on the defensive end, Granum said.
The Wildcats were led by Kylee Ellerton who had 14 points and seven rebounds. Jordyn Larsen had nine points. Keira Nelson and Jayda Bennett each had eight points.
Sioux Valley held a 29-26 advantage in rebounds. The Cossacks were 6-of-9 at the free throw line and the Wildcats were 6-of-16.
Sioux Valley won its four-straight game after dropping the season opener to Sisseton. Granum said he likes where his team is at right now.
I really like where were at. Were practicing well. What we see in practice is what we see in games. Through the first four games, I thought our shooting was inconsistent and not capable of what we can do and I think thats whats going to come around. I feel comfortable playing against any team in the state with this team, Granum said.
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