Andrew Holtan | The Brookings Register
CHAMBERLAIN – The Sioux Valley girls’ basketball team is heading back to the State Tournament as the Cossacks beat St. Thomas More 49-29 in the Class A SoDak 16 in Chamberlain on Thursday night.
This is the second-straight season that the Cossacks have made it state. They beat Deuel in their first game of the Region 2A Playoffs and then topped Clark/Willow Lake to advance to the SoDak 16. Sioux Valley’s Jamie Granum said this path to the State Tournament was more difficult because of who they played.
“I think this year it was a different path to get there. Every year is unique with different factors that go into it. Some luck, obviously. This year it was, I want to say, a more earned trip as far as who we had to go through to get there,” Granum said.
Sioux Valley held St. Thomas More to 22% shooting from the field and the Cavaliers were 1-for-12 from three. The Cossacks also forced 11 turnovers.
Granum said he changed how the Cossacks played defense schematically this year and his team has figured out how to have a lot of success with it.
“We’ve kind of bought into a system of play, and it’s been on me. I just felt that I’ve improved as a defensive coach, you know, over the last three years. And I think that that’s a reflection on just our kids now. having a style to play with. I think that’s where it probably starts more than anything. Getting them to believe that, you know, whether that’s through analytics and statistically, and we’re really trying to lock the ball to the left side of the floor,” Granum said.
Sioux Valley led 11-4 at the end of the first quarter. The Cossacks then outscored the Cavs 19=9 in the second and took a 30-13 lead into halftime. STM made a push in the third to cut it to 37-25 but Sioux Valley then held a 12-4 advantage in the fourth to put things away.
The Cossacks shot 41.5% from the field and were 8-of-24 from beyond the arc. Amari Ward led Sioux Valley with 11 points. Kailey Cradduck had 11 points and Talya Vincent, Liberty Trygstad and Masey Top all had eight points.
Cradduck is one of Sioux Valley’s leading scorers and Granum said the Cavs wanted to not let her score. He was proud of how other players stepped up, especially Ward.
“One thing that became apparent right away is they wanted to take Kailey away. They were sending double teams at her any time she touched the paint. They also are a switching man-to-man team, which is just different from what we faced in the season. So that was a challenge. And then, you know, Amari Ward, It’s the first time she’s led us in scoring all year long. To get that out of her and her ability in big games, she’s a big moment player,” Granum said.
Sioux Valley had a week to prepare for STM and Granum talked about during the Region Playoffs that his team has done well when it has some extra days of preparation. He said that showed again on Thursday night.
“We had a week to prepare and our leadership and ability at practice to lock in is unique with this age and this level. It’s the ability to understand and know, hey, this is what they’re trying to do, and this is the coverage we’re trying to apply, and then being able to do that,” Granum said.
With it being the second State Tournament appearance for most of his roster, Granum said he wants his team to go into it with the mindset of wanting to win. He thought last season they were just happy to be there.
“Sometimes I think our school and our size of school, just getting to a state tournament is something that’s at the top of the list [and you just want to have fun]. We want to go there and win and compete and saying that. Saying that, this path ahead of us at the state tournament is extremely difficult,” Granum said.
The Cossacks will be the No. 4 seed in the Class A Tournament in Watertown. Sioux Valley will take on No. 5 seeded Lennox at 12:45 p.m. on March 12. Granum said the Orioles are a tough quarterfinal draw for his team.
“Lennox to me is one of the top two teams in the state. You know, I have them up there with Hamlin and [Mahpiya Luta]. So, we get them right off the bat with a roster full of future college basketball long and athletic players that can cause us a lot of problems,” Granum said.
The other matchups in Class A include No. 1 Hamlin and No. 8 Lakota Tech, No. 2 Mahpiya Luta and No. 7 West Central and No. 3 Wagner and No. 6 Sioux Falls Christian. Granum said he thinks his team will have to shoot well if they want to make a run towards the title.
“I mean, obviously shooting is the X-factor. We feel, if you look at that field of eight teams, we have the best shooting team in that group of teams. But as you know, you have to be able to score at different levels to kind of make a run at the state tournament,” Granum said.
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