SIOUX FALLS – The Sioux Valley girls’ basketball team fell to Hamlin 56-30 in the Throwback Classic at the Sanford Pentagon on Tuesday night.

Sioux Valley (5-2) shot 33.3% for the game and was 5-18 from three. The Cossacks were 3-11 from the free throw line and had 20 turnovers. Sioux Valley head coach Jamie Granum said his team struggled a bit offensively,  but he thinks they are close to becoming one of the better teams in the state.

“We need to keep working on taking care of the basketball,” Granum said. “The past couple games have kind of reared its ugly head. [Hamlin] is a real physical team and they take away our spacing, which we really rely on offensively. To play in space and they took that away from us. A lot of your cuts and a lot of your dribble attacks, they’re going to get a body on you. 

“We are closing the gap with some of the better teams in the state. Are we there right now? No we’re not, but we have a plan of improvement and I’m looking forward to playing [Hamlin] again in a month.”

Hamlin (4-2) jumped out to a 10-3 lead. Sioux Valley’s Reagan Johnson then scored five-straight points to cut the lead to 10-8 with 52 seconds left in the first quarter. Addison Nuendorf hit a 3-pointer as time expired to give the Chargers a 13-8 lead going into the second quarter.

Isabelle Bloker hit a 3-pointer on the Cossacks’ first possession of the second quarter. Hamlin’s Brooklyn Brandriet responded with a 3-pointer of her own, but Bloker hit another three to make it 16-14 with 6:12 left in the first half. The Chargers then went on a 7-0 run to make 23-14 with 2:43 left in the half and Hamlin took a 26-17 lead into the locker room.

Hamlin led 32-22 with 5:10 left in the third quarter when it went on an 11-0 run to go up 43-22 with 1:48 remaining in the quarter. Julia Schneider knocked down a three with 14 seconds left, but the Chargers hit their second buzzer beater of the night when Brandriet hit a three as time expired and Hamlin led 46-25 going into the final quarter.

Hamlin outscored Sioux Valley 10-4 in the fourth to get the win. The Chargers outscored the Cossacks 24-8 the final 13:10 of the game.

“I think rebounding got away from us [in the second half] and we went multiple possessions without answering offensively. You know, I liked our game. I was proud of our kids afterwards. I thought we competed hard and played hard. [Hamlin] is a top team and a top team in Class A and we played with them for about 20 of the 32 minutes. I think the outcome of the game and the ending score wasn’t vindictive of the game at all,” Granum said.

Keyra Kruse led the Cossacks with eight points and four rebounds. Bloker also had eight points and Johnson had seven.

Hamlin shot 42.9% from the field and was 7-19 from three. The Chargers were 7-13 at the free throw line and won the rebound battle 38-19.

The Chargers were led by Kami Wadsworth who had 15 points and seven rebounds. Ally Abraham had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Brandriet had 11 points and Marissa Bawdon had eight. Nuendorf had seven points and seven assists.

“[Wadsworth and Abraham], I’ve watched film on all their games and they’re doing this to every team,” Granum said. “I thought in the first half we played them really well. [Hamlin] added a couple of transfers this past year and they thought they were going to step back a little bit in their program and in our region, and then a couple of new players came in and helped their perimeter game. We had to respect that also. 

“But Kami and Ally are tremendous post players. They play well together, rebound the basketball and they’re a handful inside.” 

The two teams wore throwback uniforms on Tuesday night. Granum said it was a cool experience for his team to play on the Pentagon floor.

“This is our second time at the Pentagon. The Pentagon made our girls and our team feel really, really special tonight.  From the introductions to the throwback uniforms to playing on Heritage Court, “ he said.

This was the second-straight loss for the Cossacks. They fell to Deubrook Area 56-52 on Jan. 3. Sioux Valley returns to action on Thursday when it takes on McCook Central/Montrose in Volga. 

“Thursday will be a little bit of a mimic of the Deubrook game, where we have to have our zone attack ready for MCM. We’re going to go to practice and do our Wednesday practice, which is a lot of shooting, a lot of ball handling, a lot of fundamentals and then dial in on some zone attacks. We’re just trying to keep on getting better,” Granum said. 

Tip off between the Cossacks and Fighting Cougars is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

HAMLIN 56, SIOUX VALLEY 30

Sioux Valley (5-2)

Keyra Kruse 3-8 2-4 8, Isabelle Bloker 3-8 0-0 8, Reagan Johnson 3-9 0-3 7, Julia Schneider 1-4 1-3 4, Ashley Bjerke 1-4 0-1 3, Jada Knutson 0-1 0-0 0, Talya Vincent 0-2 0-0 0, Caitlyn Craddick 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 11-33 3-11 30.

Hamlin (4-2)

Kami Wadsworth 6-12 3-6 15, Ally Abraham 6-10 1-2 13, Brooklyn Brandriet 4-9 0-0 11, Marissa Bawdon 2-7 2-2 8, Addison Nuendorf 2-6 1-2 7, Emily Everson 1-2 0-0 2, Emma Schultz 0-1 0-0 0, Zoie Fraser 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 7-13 56.

Sioux Valley   8   9   8   5  – 30

Hamlin 13 13 20 10 – 56

3-point field goals – SV 5-18 (Schneider 1-2, Bloker 2-6, Bjerke 1-3, Johnson 1-3, Cradduck 0-1, Vincent 0-2), H 7-19 (Brandriet 3-6, Neuendorf 2-5, Bawdon 2-5, Wadsworth 0-1, Ally Abraham 0-2). Rebounds – SV 19 (Kruse 4), H 38 (Abraham 12). Assists – SV 9 (Schneider 5), H 16 (Neuendorf 7). Steals – SV 6 (Bjerke 3), H 6 (Brandriet 3). Blocks – SV 6 (Kruse, Bjerke 2), H 0. Turnovers – SV 20, H 15. Total fouls – SV 14, H 17. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.