VOLGA – All five Sioux Valley seniors found the scoring column on Senior Night as the Cossacks beat Castlewood 83-53 to win the Lake Central Conference boys’ basketball title outright.
Zack Puetz dropped in 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds.
Tayt Vincent totaled 14 points, six assists and three steals.
Reserves Nick Strasburg and Cole Gross added seven points apiece.
And then there was Spencer Schulte, who hit a late 3-pointer that brought the crowd and his teammates to their feet.
“Emotions can get high and get exciting,” Sioux Valley coach Bill Vincent said in reference to Senior Night. “We had a neat young gentleman (Schulte) that put in his time and got himself a chance to be in uniform tonight and hit a shot down the stretch there.
“It was just a super special moment for him and for our kids, his teammates. So that was neat.”
Tayt Vincent has been contributing at the varsity level since he was a seventh-grader. The five-year starter is the school’s career record holder in points, assists, steals and 3-pointers.
Puetz made the varsity as a freshman and is a three-year starter.
Gross has been involved in Cossack basketball since his grade-school years, while Strasburg joined the program as a freshman.
“It’s a little bit more special for me because it’s a group that I was the parent volunteer for, as well, with the help of Ron Puetz when these guys were young,” added Coach Vincent. “So you have a little bit more of a connection to them that way. I thought it was neat how the juniors treated the seniors, as well, tonight.”
Sioux Valley shook off a slow start with a 53-point second half.
The Cossacks led just 13-12 after a quarter and were on top 30-23 at intermission.
Trevor Olson scored a game-high 22 points, hitting six 3-pointers. He did a majority of his damage after the break as Sioux Valley moved ahead 50-33 through three periods.
“I thought we were a little sluggish and that the ball was sticking early on – kind of how we practiced yesterday, so maybe a wakeup call to us to clean up our practices so they’re crisp,” Coach Vincent noted. “We’re fighting some colds and flus, and some of that is you work through that and still find ways to get it done.
“While some people didn’t perform their best, others stepped up and had big nights and had big moments. So that will help the team out.
“In the first half, we thought we got the pace to where we wanted it and it started to wear on some legs. And at some point shots were going to start falling for us.”
Trevor Hanson just missed a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds. Max Nielson and Ryan Schuster added a bucket apiece.
The Warriors got 20 points and six boards from Brandon Benike.
Sioux Valley (17-2, 6-0) concludes the regular season with a game at Garretson on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Castlewood (11-6, 2-4) plays host to Estelline on Friday.
