Cossacks finish fourth after 77-60 loss to Sioux Falls Christian

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RAPID CITY – With the ultimate goal of a state tournament to secure three wins in three days, Saturday’s game for Sioux Valley wasn’t the one it wanted to be playing in.

But after a three-point loss Friday night to Madison in the semifinals – a game in which they trailed by 20 points in the third quarter – the Cossacks played the hand they were dealt.

However, a season-ending win wasn’t in the cards on Saturday night as the Cossack offense again struggled in the first half, trailing by 14 at intermission. That deficit would swell to as much as 26 in the second half, with the final margin reading 17 – a 77-60 defeat at the hands of Sioux Falls Christian.

And after trailing by a large margin on Friday night only to crawl back into their game against Madison, on Saturday night – the third game in three days – there just wasn’t enough gas left in the tank.

“We really fought back in our game last night, and expended a lot of energy and emotion, and that showed up in this game,” said Cossack coach Bill Vincent. “But I thought we got a lot of fight out of our bench tonight, kind of sparked us at times.”

And despite the season-ending defeat, the bigger picture shows a program that has had a large amount of success the past few years, with 10 members of the team having participated on this year’s squad, their contributions not unnoticed by the coach.

“We had 10 total (members) that contributed to our team – managers, stats, video, and practice players – that I’m awfully proud of,” Vincent added. “And of course, the seven in uniform tonight have a lot of fight and have been around for four very successful years of Cossack basketball – three 20-win seasons.

“And a couple of them have contributed since they were freshmen.”

In his final game in navy and gold, Augustana recruit Trevor Hanson tallied 25 points and ripped down 10 rebounds for a double-double.

Max Nielson added 13 points and handed out seven assists.

The Cossacks finished in fourth place, logging 21 wins against just four defeats on the season.

Sioux Falls Christian (24-1) was led by a balanced scoring effort – four players logging between 12 and 16 points, led by Will Garnaas with 16 and Mitchell Goodbary with 15. Goodbary also snared 12 rebounds.

The All-Tournament Team included Corey Brown from Pine Ridge, Luke Wells II from Crow Creek, Jack McCabe from Dakota Valley, Alejando Rama from Red Cloud, Trevor Hanson from Sioux Valley, Mitchell Goodbary and Koln Oppold from Sioux Falls Christian, Noah Friedel and Justin Hohn from Tea Area, and Aaron Fiegen, Jadon Janke, and Jaxon Janke from Madison.

The Madison cheerleaders claimed the Spirit of Six Award, while Russell Leader Charge of Red Cloud was honored as the Spirit of Su recipient.

SIOUX FALLS CHRISTIAN 77, SIOUX VALLEY 60

Sioux Valley (21-4)

Trevor Olson 3-16 0-0 8, Max Nielson 3-8 5-6 13, Ryan Schuster 1-3 0-0 3, Jake Schneider 2-5 2-2 6, Trevor Hanson 10-25 0-1 23, Noah Puetz 0-0 0-0 0, Daymein Lucas 1-2 0-0 3, Kelton Vincent 0-1 0-0 0, Chase Ringheimer 1-1 0-0 2, Lane VanderWal 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Schwartz 1-2 0-0 2, Jaxton Schiller 0-0 0-0 0, Parker Puetz 0-0 0-0 0, Trent Hiltunen 0-0 0-0 0, Brennan Stoltenberg 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-64 7-9 60.

Sioux Falls Christian (24-1)

Will Garnaas 5-14 2-3 16, Lincoln Unruh 1-2 2-2 5, Gavin Schipper 5-9 0-0 12, Koln Oppold 6-16 0-0 13, Mitchell Goodbary 7-12 1-5 15, Mitchell Oostra 3-7 1-2 7, Parker Nelson 1-2 0-0 2, Collin Reitsma 0-0 0-0 0, Dawson Mulder 0-0 2-2 2, Zach Witte 2-2 1-2 5. Totals 30-64 9-16 77.

Sioux Valley   8    9  19  24  –  60

S.F. Christian 21  10  28  18  –  77

3-point goals – SV 9-25 (Hanson 3-7, Nielson 2-5, Olson 2-9, Schuster 1-2, Lucas 1-2), SFC 8-34 (Garnaas 4-13, Schipper 2-6, Unruh 1-2, Oppold 1-8, Goodbary 0-2, Oostra 0-3). Rebounds – SV 42 (Hanson 10), SFC 38 (Goodbary 12). Assists – SV 17 (Nielson 7), SFC 15 (Oppold 7). Steals – SV 6 (Ringheimer 3), SFC 9 (Goodbary 5). Blocks – SV 1 (Schneider), SFC 3 (Oppold 2). Turnovers – SV 16, SFC 10. Total fouls – SV 16, SFC 12. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.

Championship

• Madison 72, Tea Area 59

Twin brothers and South Dakota State football commits Jadon Janke (23) and Jaxon Janke (22) combined for 45 points as the Bulldogs beat the Titans in a rematch of last year’s finale.

Jadon went 6-of-7 on 3-pointers and added nine rebounds, while Jaxon had six boards and four steals.

Future Jackrabbit basketball player Aaron Fiegen chipped in with 16 points, nine boards and three dimes.

Tea was ahead 16-7 after 8 minutes.

Madison moved ahead 26-24 at halftime and was up 46-42 through three.

Leading by one, the Bulldogs put the game away with an 18-3 run in the fourth, leaving the score at 66-50 with 2:10 to go.

The Bulldogs’ top three scorers each scored six points during the run – Jadon Janke hit a pair of 3-pointers; Jaxon Janke went 6-for-6 at the foul line; Fiegen had a 4-of-4 stretch at the stripe while adding a bucket.

Madison shot 51.1 percent (24-of-47) and Tea ended up at 38.6 percent (22-of-57).

The Titans’ Noah Freidel ended up with 25 points and Justin Hohn added 18. Hohn came up with six of the team’s 13 steals.

Second-seeded Madison closed out the season with a 24-1 mark, while fifth-seeded Tea Area ended up at 19-6.

Notes: The Titans beat the Bulldogs 72-65 in last year’s championship matchup. The Bulldogs beat the Titans 74-49 in the 2013 final. … Madison improved to 7-6 in finals. The Bulldogs won titles in 1921 (one class), 1945 (B two class), 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014. They were second in 1920 (one class), 1924 (one class), 1929 (one class), 1944 (B two class), 2008 and 2017. … Tea was making its fourth appearance in the state tourney, adding a third-place showing in 2014.

MADISON 72, TEA AREA 59

Madison (24-1)

Jadon Janke 7-11 3-4 23, Jaxon Janke 9-12 4-7 22, Josh Giles 0-2 2-4 2, Aaron Fiegen 4-12 8-13 16, Caden Hunsley 0-0 0-0 0, Nic Comes 1-1 0-0 2, Caileb Reilly 0-1 0-0 0, Doyle Brown 3-8 1-2 7, Thomas Gors 0-0 0-0 0, Jerett Lurz 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Tappe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-47 18-30 72.

Tea Area (19-6)

Chris Morales 2-7 0-0 5, Justin Hohn 6-15 4-7 18, Noah Freidel 9-22 3-3 25, Kade Stearns 2-6 0-0 5, Zach Wilber 0-1 0-0 0, Mason Ritter 0-1 0-0 0, Nash Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Kaleb Joffer 1-2 0-0 2, Jake Friedrich 1-1 0-0 2, Seth Kocer 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 22-57 7-10 59.

Madison   7  19  20  26  –  72

Tea Area 16    8  18  17  –  59

3-point goals – M 6-17 (Jadon Janke 6-7, Fiegen 0-1, Brown 0-1, Giles 0-2, Jaxon Janke 0-2), TA 8-30 (Freidel 4-12, Hohn 2-8, Morales 1-3, Stearns 1-5, Wilber 0-1, Ritter 0-1). Rebounds – M 40 (Fiegen, Jadon Janke 9), TA 24 (Freidel 7). Assists – M 10 (Fiegen 3), TA 12 (Hohn 6). Steals – M 4 (Jaxon Janke 4), TA 13 (Hohn 6). Blocks – M 0, TA 7 (Freidel, Kocer 3). Turnovers – M 14, TA 12. Total fouls – M 16, TA 24. Fouled out – Brown, Joffer, Morales. Technical fouls – none.

Fifth place

• Red Cloud 63, Dakota Valley 58

Four Crusaders recorded double-figure points as eighth-seeded Red Cloud (21-5) beat No. 6 Dakota Valley (18-8).

Dakota Valley led 16-11 after a quarter, before Red Cloud moved ahead 31-30 at halftime and held a 49-46 advantage through three.

The lead switched hands four times in the fourth, with the Crusaders moving ahead 53-52 on Alejandro Rama’s putback with 5:37 showing on the clock. Louis Her Many Horse had back-to-back buckets and Manuel Yellow Horse scored following a Paul Bruns steal to make it 59-52 with 4:03 left.

Her Many Horses ended up with 15 points, Rama 14, Jesse Jensen 12 and Russell Leader Charge 10. Jensen corralled nine rebounds, and Rama dished out five assists while coming up with four steals.

The Panthers’ Jack Graves totaled 15 points, and Jack McCabe and Paul Bruns both chipped in with 11.

Seventh place

• Crow Creek 68, Pine Ridge 64

The fourth-seeded Chieftans (21-5) prevailed in a back-and-forth final period to defeat the seventh-seeded Thorpes (17-8).

Pine Ridge was up 20-17 after a quarter, but Crow Creek moved ahead 39-38 at halftime and led 53-52 through three.

The score was tied once in the fourth – 58-58 with 5 minutes to go.

Josiah Blue Arm’s putback with 4:47 to play put the Chieftans on top for good as he added on free throw and then Jayden McBride scored with 4 1/2 minutes left to push the margin to 63-58.

Luke Wells had 19 points and six rebounds; Blue Arm added 17 and eight; and Joe Sazue III dropped in 14 markers.

Pine Ridge’s Corey Brown posted a double-double with 16 points and an incredible 25 rebounds.

Corey Blacksmith had a game-high 21 points and Joseph O’Rourke added 12.

The Thorpes shot 44.3 percent (27-of-61) and held a 45-33 advantage on the glass but committed 20 turnovers.

SDPB photo: Sioux Valley senior Trevor Olson launches a long shot during the Cossacks’ 77-60 loss to Sioux Falls Christian in the third-place game of the Class A Boys’ State Basketball Tournament at Rushmore Civic Arena on Saturday night in Rapid City.