Cossacks close with win, clinch No. 2 seed in region

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VOLGA – Carly Granum broke the school record for 3-pointers in a season and Sioux Valley held off Garretson 56-48 in a Big East Conference girls’ basketball game Thursday night, clinching the No. 2 seed in Region 2A in the process.

“It was kind of a wild game,” said Sioux Valley temporary head coach Jordan Fast. “Being the last game of the season, Garretson brought everything they had.

“We didn’t necessarily do everything right, but we did some things right. It was an okay effort and going forward, we got the win and that’s what matters.”

The Cossacks led 14-7 after a quarter, 29-20 at halftime and 41-34 through three.

The Blue Dragons pulled within one – 46-45 – midway through the final stanza.

However, Sioux Valley countered with nine consecutive points to retake control.

Lynsey Stevens’ trey made it 49-45 with 3:50 to go.

Following a Chloe Larsen foul shot, Granum hit two free throws with 2:04 remaining and another pair with 49.6 seconds left to push the margin to 54-45.

“That was big for us and the fact that we knew it was time to go,” Fast said of the 9-0 run. “Garretson just hit their shots; at one time I looked up at the scoreboard and they were shooting 3s at 60 percent and free throws close to 80 percent. So hat’s off to them, they played better than their record today.

“Going forward, today is going to make us better.”

Granum shook off a slow start to score a game-high 23 points. She hit four 3s, was 9-of-9 at the free-throw line and grabbed six rebounds.

Granum, a junior, now has 89 treys in 20 games this season – an average of 4.45 makes per contest.

“She made herself a good shooter,” Fast noted. “It doesn’t just happen; she’s on the shooting machine all the time, and it’s a product of hard work and just years of shooting.

“It’s a much-deserved honor.”

Granum broke the previous single-season school record of 86 treys set by her sister Kaylee in 25 games as a sophomore in 2013-14. The elder Granum made 3.44 3s per game that season.

Lynsey Stevens added 11 points and five boards.

Cassie Rawden dropped in 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting while also contributing four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Larsen, who was honored on Senior Night along with Nicole Intermill, totaled six points and 10 rebounds. Miakken Vincent chipped in with six points, four boards and three assists.

Sioux Valley finished the regular season with a 7-13 record, including a 3-4 mark in the BEC.

The Region 2A Tournament begins with first-round games Tuesday as third-seeded Clark/Willow Lake (6-14) plays host to sixth-seeded Great Plains Lutheran (4-16) and fourth-seeded Deuel (6-14) welcomes fifth-seeded Redfield/Doland (6-14).

The Cossacks take on the winner of the CWL/GPL game in the semifinals Thursday at 7 p.m. in Volga. Hamlin (19-0), which wraps up the regular season playing host to Sisseton tonight, is host to the winner of the Deuel/RD game in the other semi Thursday.

“It’s awesome and a lot of these kids did that in volleyball, too,” Fast said when asked about earning a bye and being one win away from the Sweet 16, which is Friday, March 3. “The fact is that once you get to the postseason anything can happen, and we like our chances going forward.”

Garretson got 12 points from Kindra Clark and 11 by Kyley Greenhoff.

The Blue Dragons (1-19, 0-7), who won 61-55 at Canton on Dec. 13 for their lone victory of the season, are the No. 7 seed in Region 3A.

Sioux Valley also beat Garretson 56-26 in a BEC Tournament consolation semifinal on Jan. 27 in Howard.