VOLGA – The Sioux Valley girls' basketball team improved to 3-5 and 3-1 in the Big East Conference after blowing out Chester Area 63-31 Tuesday night.

The Cossacks jumped out to a 16-6 lead in the first quarter and then led 30-16 at halftime. They blew the game open in the third quarter when they outscored the Flyers 26-9 to go up 56-25.

“We played with a lot of joy tonight. We’ve been talking about enjoying each other more and it’s a game and it’s supposed to be fun. Sometimes we can get away from that when shots aren’t falling and it’s a game of mistakes. Tonight, when shots are falling, everybody looks good, including the coach,” Sioux Valley head coach Jamie Granum said. 

Sioux Valley was led by Miakken Vincent who had 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Reagan Johnson had 14 points, four rebounds and four assists. Abbied Schneider had 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. The Cosssacks had 24 assists as a team.

“[Miakken] is our go to girl. We got a lot of nice players around her and it seems like when she gets going, she’s such a good passer that she can get everyone involved. She did a nice job of moving the basketball tonight and it was an enjoyable game to watch. Unlike some of our previous one’s where the ball didn’t move as well. 

The Cossacks held the Flyers to 18.2% shooting from the field and Chester was 0-11 from three. Sioux Valley forced 18 turnovers on the night. Granum said his team went into the game trying to create pressure and create offense from their defense.

“We’ve been struggling offensively and we need to score more easy baskets and not work so hard for points,” he said.

Sioux Valley had lost their last three games and Granum said he’s hoping they can build off this big win.

“You kind of believe some of the so called ‘basketball guru’s’ that confidence is 80 or 90% of the game and when shots go in it build confidence. You see shots go in in practice and it builds confidence and leads to a more enjoyable team to be around,” Granum said.

The Cossacks will play at Dell Rapids Friday.

SIOUX VALLEY 63, CHESTER AREA 31

Chester Area (3-7, 1-2 BEC)

Makenna Larson 3-20 7-8 13, Lexi Siemonsma 4-11 3-6 11, Jada Becker 3-8 1-2 7, Brianna Backhus 0-1 0-2 0, Raegan Hoff 0-1 0-0 0, Tiffany Mohr 0-2 0-0 0, Kenna Brown 0-2 0-0 0, Breckyn Ewoldt 0-8 0-0 0, Emily Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Carly Becker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-55 11-19 31.

Sioux Valley (3-5, 3-1 BEC)

Miakken Vincent 7-18 3-4 22, Reagan Johnson 7-11 0-0 14, Abbie Schneider 4-9 0-0 12, Laryn Stevens 2-4 0-0 6, Julia Schneider 2-3 0-0 5, Ellie Schmidt 2-5 0-0 4, Ashley Bjerke 0-1 0-0 0, Jada Knutson 0-1 0-0 0, Sydney Hesby 0-2 0-0 0, Isabelle Bloker 0-0 0-0 0, Ali Hankins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 3-4 63.

Chester Area 6  10  9  6 – 31

Sioux Valley 16 14 26 7 – 63

3-point field goals – CA 0-11 (Ewoldt 0-1, Brown 0-1, Mohr 0-2, Larson 0-7), SV 12-29 (J. Schneider 1-1, Stevens 2-3, A. Schneider 4-8, Vicnent 5-11, Johnson 0-1, Hesby 0-2, Schmidt 0-3). Rebounds – CA 29 (Ewoldt 7), SV 35 (A. Schneider 8). Assists – CA 10 (Brown 5), SV 24 (Schmidt, J. Schneider, Vincent 5). Blocks – CA 0, SV 3 (A. Schneider). Turnovers – CA 18, SV 13. Total fouls – CA 8, SV 17. Fouled out – SV Schmidt. Technical fouls – none.