VOLGA The Sioux Valley girls basketball team won their fourth-straight game on Tuesday night as they beat Castlewood 70-51 at the Cossack Center.
The Cossacks got off to a fast start as they outscored the Warriors 26-11 in the first quarter. Sioux Valley head coach Jamie Granum said his team did a good job of making adjustments when Castlewood tried to take away some of their best scorers in the first quarter.
[Castlewood] was determined to not let Kailey [Cradduck] or Talya [Vincent] score and weve seen that before with our team. Teams that play that against us, Im just so confident in our other players that can score and shoot. Maybe in past years that would have bottled us up and we would have panicked, but tonight, we just had a lot of poise. Poise was the reason we played so well, Granum said.
The Cossacks outscored the Warriors 9-8 in the second quarter and took a 35-19 lead into halftime. Sioux Valley extended its lead to 50-32 heading into the fourth and then outscored Castlewood 20-19 in the final frame. Granum said the final three quarters were more competitive because his team kept fouling on defense.
Defensively, we have some work to do. Were fouling too much. So, as coaches, we have to figure out why we are fouling. Are we fouling because were getting beat off the bounce or are we fouling at the rim? I felt like that kind of took the pace out of the game a little bit. When we kept fouling, they kept shooting free throws and we were just slowed down and having to set up in the half court. We couldnt run and thats when were at our best, when we push the ball up the floor, Granum said.
Sioux Valley shot 43.1% from the field and was 11-of-30. The Cossacks had four players score in double figures. Liberty Trygstad and Amari Ward each had 15 points. Kailey Cradduck had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists. Talya Vincent had 12 points.
Granum said his offense has been clicking lately because the Cossacks have good balance and can shoot the ball well.
Its all about balance and [any player can score on] any given night. Were watching Amari Ward shoot it at a high clip and shes not afraid to shoot the basketball. Part of it with a kid is just the fearlessness of hey, Im open and Im going to shoot it. We do so much shooting and we have so much confidence in these players. Were not putting anyone on a hey, you cant shoot or you cant take this shot. Its a fun style and a fun system to play in, Granum said.
Keyra Kruse is the lone senior on the Cossacks and Tuesday night was senior night as it was the final regular season home game for Sioux Valley. Kruse had seven points and nine rebounds. Granum said he is proud of the way Kruse has developed throughout her career.
[Kruse] is just a special, special player. 700 career points, 600 career rebounds. Shes played since the eighth grade and is the only senior. I just have a lot of respect for her as a player and as a person. What a leader she is now from what she was as an eighth grader. Its been so much fun having her on the team and in the program, Granum said.
Castlewood shot 39.5% from the field and was 3-of-7 from three. Cassidy Kirwan led the Warriors with 16 points. Sophia Kurdna had 14 points and Ava Ruml had 10 points and five rebounds.
The Cossacks had a 31-28 advantage in rebounding. They had nine offensive rebounds and Granum said that has been an emphasis for Sioux Valley lately.
When were going into the postseason its going to be about, how can you steal a few extra buckets in a close game. We think offensive rebounding, just how good we are on the glass and getting the balanced vibe [works for us]. We have to pick and choose which teams we do that against because if theyre going to transition back on us. But overall, the more [offensive rebounds] you go after the more you get. It might be that simple at this level, Granum said.
Sioux Valley had 15 turnovers and Castlewood had 25. The Cossacks were 9-of-14 at the free throw line and the Warriors were 18-of-22.
The Cossacks are now 15-4 on the season and will close out the season at Garretson on Thursday at 6:15 p.m. Granum said he wants his team to finish on a high note and thinks they are starting to peak at the right time.
We want to stay healthy. Garretson is going to play some zone, so were going to have to have some zone attack that we get to. I just want to finish strong. Every team wants to finish strong and play their best basketball. I think were close. I think theres some more that we can do on the defensive end though, Granum said.
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