Cossacks edge De Smet, 61-56

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VOLGA – Trevor Hanson was the man down the stretch as Sioux Valley topped De Smet 61-56 in an exciting Lake Central Conference boys’ basketball matchup Tuesday night.

He finished with 31 points on 13-of-21 shooting and eight rebounds to go with four blocks and a pair of steals.

Hanson’s putback with 1:56 remaining put the Cossacks on top for good at 57-56. He added another basket with 40 seconds to play.

Hanson blocked a layup attempt on the Bulldogs’ ensuing possession and took off down court. Jake Schneider hit him in stride as the senior hammered one down with two hands to put an exclamation point on the victory.

“He was big, as he has been all year,” said Sioux Valley coach Bill Vincent. “We thought we were a little slow starting defensively; not quite in the spots we wanted to be. But it was kind of a trap game coming off the big game at the Corn Palace against Bridgewater-Emery. But I told the guys, don’t let that be an excuse because De Smet was playing a big game there on that day as well.

“Hat’s off to De Smet and where they are. They’re going to be a dark horse heading into the Class B and the first year of the Sweet 16 format, so I hope that they can get there and make some noise as well.”

The Cossacks overcame a chilly night from 3-point range – 2-of-19 – and a big performance by De Smet’s Gage Gruenhagen, who is Vincent’s nephew. The senior kept the Bulldogs in it, posting a double-double of 30 points and 11 rebounds.

Gruenhagen had 20 points at halftime as De Smet led 33-31. Sioux Valley was up 47-44 through three.

The Bulldogs twice grabbed the lead in the fourth, the last coming at 56-55 following a Holland free throw with 2:31 to go.

“De Smet came in with a lot of energy and they’ve been pumped since they got (Trevin) Holland back; and you can see why, he’s a talent,” Vincent said. “Gruenhagen really got going early on in the game. The two early fouls on TO I kind of thought slowed him down defensively; and we had to kind of rotate some players around; and finally I thought Max Nielson did a pretty good job there in the fourth quarter on him.”

Ryan Schuster finished with 11 points and Trevor Olson nine. Max Nielson dished out eight assists and Jake Schneider corralled 13 boards.

De Smet went 9-of-27 from long range. Like Gruenhagen, Holland connected from deep four times while adding 16 points.

De Smet (4-7, 0-3) heads to Ramona to face ORR on Thursday.

Sioux Valley has more than a week off before playing host to Flandreau on Thursday, Feb. 1, at 7:30 p.m.

SIOUX VALLEY 61, DE SMET 56

De Smet (4-7, 0-3 LCC)

Taylor Eichacker 0-0 0-0 0, Cade Birkel 1-2 0-0 2, Gage Gruenhagen 11-20 4-5 30, Zach Wolkow 1-2 0-0 2, Cody Cavanaugh 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan McCune 2-17 1-1 6, Trevin Holland 5-12 2-2 16, Jared Hoefert 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-56 7-8 56.

Sioux Valley (14-1, 2-1 LCC)

Noah Puetz 1-1 0-0 2, Trevor Olson 4-14 1-2 9, Ryan Schuster 5-10 0-0 11, Daymein Lucas 0-0 0-0 0, Max Nielson 2-6 0-0 5, Chase Ringheimer 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Schwartz 0-0 0-0 0, Brennan Stoltenberg 0-1 0-0 0, Jake Schneider 1-3 1-4 3, Trevor Hanson 13-21 5-6 31. Totals 26-56 7-12 61.

De Smet 17  16    9  14  –  56

Sioux Valley 20  11  16  14  –  61

3-point goals – DS 9-27 (Gruenhagen 4-8, Holland 4-10, McCune 1-9), SV 2-19 (Nielson 1-3, Schuster 1-4, Schneider 0-1, Stoltenberg 0-1, Hanson 0-3, Olson 0-7). Rebounds – DS 30 (Gruenhagen 11), SV 34 (Schneider 13). Assists – DS 4 (Birkel 2), SV 17 (Nielson 8). Steals – DS 3 (Holland 2), SV 4 (Hanson 2). Blocks – DS 3 (Holland, Gruenhagen, Hoefert 1), SV 6 (Hanson 4). Turnovers – DS 12, SV 10. Total fouls – DS 10, SV 14. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.