VOLGA — The Sioux Valley boys’ basketball team advanced to the Class A SoDak 16 for the fifth-straight season on Friday night as the Cossacks beat Flandreau 66-35 in the Region 2A Playoffs.

Sioux Valley raced out to an 8-0 lead. The Fliers closed the gap to 17-13 at the end of the first quarter and would cut the lead to 24-22 with 2:42 left in the first half. The Cossacks then closed the half with an 8-2 run and took a 32-24 lead into halftime.

Sioux Valley head coach Bill Vincent said he liked the way his team started and that allowed them to weather the storm when the Fliers came back in the second quarter.

“I thought we came out with some really good energy to get us started. So we had a little wiggle room when they made their run. Then, in all three matchups [against Flandreau this season] we really closed the second quarter well. We thought that defensively we wore on them a little bit and we went on that run to close the half and that gave us enough momentum to start the third quarter,” Vincent said.

The Cossacks opened the second half with a 10-0 run. Sioux Valley was then able to extend its lead to 53-30 at the end of the third quarter. The Cossacks pushed the lead to 64-32 with just under four minutes to play and that’s when Vincent decided to pull his starters.

Sioux Valley shot 49% from the field and was 7-of-19 from three. Vincent said he liked the way his team got the ball down low to start the second half and they just made a lot of plays that weren’t designed on Friday night.

“I really liked how, first of all, we got the ball inside to start the second half and got a couple of big buckets. We scored so many out of system points. Whether they were hustle plays or rebounds and second chance points or bobbled passes that you came up with and got transition buckets or offensive stick backs. Buckets out of our system were big tonight,” Vincent said.

Maverick Nelson led the Cossacks with 20 points. SDSU commit Alec Squires had 14 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. Hudsyn Ruesink had 10 points and nine rebounds. Jace Christensen had nine points and six assists.

Flandreau shot 36.4% from the field and was 5-of-16 from three. Paul Parsley led the Fliers with 13 points and five rebounds. Kaden Burshiem had seven points.

Sioux Valley had 27 rebounds and Flandreau had 16. The Fliers had 15 turnovers and the Cossacks had five. Sioux Valley was 9-of-14 at the free throw line and Flandreau was 6-of-10 at the charity stripe.

The Fliers finished the season with a record of 14-8. Flandreau did not have a senior on its roster.

The Cossacks have gone to the State Tournament the past three seasons, so they are used to winning in the postseason. Vincent said that experience in the playoffs allows his players to relax come postseason time.

“[Postseason basketball] is what they grew up around. This is what they know. When you’re stepping out there with five seniors and three juniors that have felt it and been through being there, that helps out,” Vicnent said.

Sioux Valley will be the No. 3 seed in the SoDak 16 and will play No. 14 Lakota Tech on Tuesday in the SoDak 16 at a neutral location. The Tatanka defeated Winner 60-48 on Friday night. Vincent said his team needs to give it their all on Tuesday because it’s win or go home.

“It’s a one game, one opportunity chance. It’s a 50/50 deal and you just have to prepare. You want to be healthy and as injury free as you can heading into these. You hope that some experience and stuff like that helps out,” Vincent said.