VOLGA – Flandreau and Sioux Valley played for the second time in seven days in girls basketball on Friday night and it was the Fliers who once again came out victorious as they beat the Cossacks 49-47 at the Cossack Center.
Flandreau beat Sioux Valley 52-47 on Jan. 28 in the championship game of the Big East Tournament in Volga and Flandreau head coach Megan Severtson said the Fliers game plan didn’t change much from the first meeting.
“We didn’t really change [anything] going into this week. I knew we had to play a little better [this game]. Our hot start was a big reason for that win last weekend, so I knew we had to play a little better. … Playing against a really good team like Sioux Valley and playing them twice in a week is really tough, especially when both of those games are [on the road],” Severtson said.
The Cossacks had the lead early as they led 17-11 at the end of the first quarter. Sioux Valley then led 20-13 a minute into the second but the Fliers were able to cut the lead to 29-27 by halftime.
Neither team was able to pull away from the other in the third quarter and the Cossacks led 36-35 heading into the fourth. The Fliers were then able to open the fourth quarter with an 11-2 run and led 46-38 with just over three minutes left.
A lay up from Julia Schneider cut the lead to 49-44 and Ashley Bjerke then stole the ensuing inbound pass and made a three to make it 49-47 with two seconds left. Bjerke would then steal the ball again on the inbound pass and heaved a shot up from just inside the half court line but it did not hit the rim and Fliers hung on for the win.
Severtson said she told her team to stick to what they had talked about before the game.
“One of the things that I said in the huddle was just to stick with the game plan and do your job. That was our mentality coming into this game. … I said to control what you can control and trust your preparation,” she said.
On the flip side, Sioux Valley head coach Jamie Granum said he thought his team was tired in the fourth quarter and it was tough because Flandreau is so physical.
“... I was proud of how our team played tonight. In the fourth quarter, the cliché would be that we probably ran out of gas. I didn’t coach my best in getting our kids breathers. [Flandreau] also plays six girls and it’s hard for us to match up when we go to our bench against three physical players that Flandreau can put on the floor,” Granum said.
The Fliers shot 34% from the field and were 1-of-9 on threes. Flandreau was led by South Dakota State commit Claire Sheppard who had 15 points and five rebounds. Lizzie Pavlis had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Sadie Iott had 12 points.
Flandreau does not have a senior on their team and Sheppard and Pavlis are two of five juniors for the Fliers. Severtson said she has liked the way that the upperclassmen have stepped up as leaders on the team.
“Those [upperclassmen] and now with Sadie Iott and the experience that she has gotten this year, they’ve played in a lot of games. They’ve played in a lot of games together growing up and they do a nice job of playing off of each other and are very unselfish. I thought, especially late in the game with Sheppard at the free throw line, that was the situation we wanted,” Severtson said.
Sioux Valley shot 36.2% from the field and was 5-for-20 from three. The Cossacks were led by Landree Wilson who had 16 points and four rebounds. Bjerke had 11 points and Schneider had nine points. Keyra Kruse had eight points.
Wilson, who committed to play basketball at the University of Sioux Falls last week, was matched up with Sheppard all night. Severtson said it was fun to watch the two players go at it all night.
“Landree is a really nice player,” she said. “She’s going to do very well in college. One thing I like about [Sheppard and Wilson] is that they’re both competitive and they were looking forward to matchup.”
Flandreau won the rebound battle 28-23. Sioux Valley had 14 turnovers and Flandreau had 12. The Fliers were 16-of-22 at the free throw line and the Cossacks were 8-of-9 at the charity stripe.
Sioux Valley dropped to 10-5 on the season and will host Deuel on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Four of the five losses that the Cossacks have had this season have come against teams with a record over .500. Granum said it was good to see that his team can play with a team as good as Flandreau, but at some point, they need to beat the good teams.
“I want to say it’s [a good measuring stick for our team], but I also want to say that there comes a time too where we win some of these games and stop talking about that we can play with them. I mean winning a game and playing with someone is different. But it’s also the perspective of it’s a play here that they made, and we didn’t make it. If Ashley Bjerke hits that last second shot tonight, we’re [celebrating] tonight. … So that’s how close it is. I know that we can play with any team in the state. Can we beat any team in the state? I don’t know,” Granum said.
Flandreau improved to 11-4 and host De Smet on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Fliers have won 10 of their past 11 games after starting the season 1-3 and Severtson said she feels good about where her team is at.
“I think going into the season I had said that it was going to be a bit of a learning curve for our girls. We started out in a spot this summer where we had some new girls coming into the picture and I thought, oh boy, we’re going to struggle in some areas. Now that they’ve played together, I’ve been really proud with our progress, especially defensively. I think we do a good job on defense covering up quite a bit of things with our athleticism and our length. So, down the stretch here it will be about going into these games with a mindset that we can play with anybody and then just seeing what happens,” Severtson said.
