Sioux Valley wins on senior night

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VOLGA – It was senior night for the Sioux Valley boys basketball team and it turned into a special night for four seniors as they topped Garretson 72-46.

The Cossacks put on another offensive show and shot the lights out from three. Sioux Valley finished the game shooting 41% from the field and made 16 3-pointers. 11 of those 3-pointers came in the first half and the Cossacks had a 44-23 lead heading into halftime.

“The other night, I think it was 29 two-point field goals in Castlewood and then tonight it was double-digit three’s by halftime. … We were just taking what was given to us and they were getting back into their zone and we were having pretty much any look that we wanted at the basket,” Sioux Valley head coach Bill Vincent said.

Sioux Valley was able to cruise to victory after halftime and were able to let their seniors play most of the game. Senior Max Nielson led the Cossacks with 20 points, five assists and four rebounds. Senior Ryan Schuster had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Lane VanderWal had had eight points.

“It’s always a tough night when [the seniors] are playing their final home game,” Vincent said. “It takes the sting off of it a little bit when you know you have the top-seed and you know you get to come back and play at home again this year. But, special night, year in and year out, a special night for those kids and always tough on a coach to see players come and go, but year after year young one’s step up and fill the void it seems like.”

One special senior got to suit up for the first time this season Thursday night. Parker Loban, who had not played all season, got into the game right before the end of the first half and the whole fourth quarter. With 2:21 left in the game Loban hit a three-pointer and the crowd went nuts. Vincent said it was really special to see the shot go in.

“Parker Loban got himself an opportunity to suit up tonight on senior night and had a basket go in, so that’s a neat opportunity for him. He’s a guy that stayed with it for the year, so he earned the opportunity tonight and the guys treated him well and got him a couple looks tonight,” he said.

Garretson (2-17) was led by Josef Zahn who had eight points and three rebounds. Cole Skadsen had seven points and four rebounds. The Cossacks held the Blue Dragons to 29.1% shooting and Garretson was 5-22 from three. Sioux Valley outrebounded Garretson 40-34.

Sioux Valley is now 18-1 and is the No. 1 seed in their region. They have one more game tonight against McCook Central/Montrose, which is a make-up game, before they head to regionals. Vincent said he is happy that his team is No. 1 in the region, but they still have a lot to work on if they want to accomplish their ultimate goal of winning a state championship.

“We still have things we have to clean up on. We thought we missed some block outs tonight and at times we thought we were a little sloppy with our passes. At the same time, that’s kind of what gets us going, is taking those chances. We got a make-up game tomorrow night at Montrose. They’re sitting at second in the Big East Conference, so it will be for the conference title tomorrow night. Just a big game, so we don’t really get a chance to celebrate the win or celebrate senior night or celebrate the season,” Vincent said.

SIOUX VALLEY 72, GARRETSON 46

Garretson (2-17)

Josef Zahn 3-9 0-0 8, Cole Skadsen 2-4 3-3 7, Trey Buckenberg 1-6 4-4 6, Triston Rekstad 2-2 0-0 6, Dylan Kindt 2-6 0-0 4, Cooper Long 1-7 1-2 4, Sam Schluter 1-4 1-3 3, Cadyn Ockenga 1-2 0-0 2, Evan Bly 1-2 0-0 2, Lucus Fitzgerald 1-1 0-0 2, Hayden Olofson 0-3 0-0 0, Jake Schroedor 0-6 0-0 0, Brady Debates 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-55 9-12 46.

Sioux Valley (18-1)

Max Nielson 7-14 0-0 20, Ryan Schuster 4-10 2-2 13, Kelton Vincent 4-7 0-0 10, Lane VanderWal 3-7 0-0 8, Hayden Ruesink 2-5 3-6 7, Oliver Vincent 3-4 0-0 7, Parker Puetz 1-6 0-2 3, Parker Loban 1-6 0-0 3, Jaxton Schiller 0-2 1-2 1, Patrick Carey 0-0 0-0 0, Colby Gatzke 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 6-12 72.

Garretson 13 10 13 10 – 46

Sioux Valley 26 18 18 10 – 72

3-point field goals – G 5-22 (Rekstad 2-2, Zahn 2-6, Long 1-5, Buckenburg 0-1, Gnadt 0-1, Kindt 0-2, Schulter 0-2, Olofson 0-3), SV 16-36 (Nielson 6-10, K. Vincent 2-4, VanderWal 2-4, O. Vincent 1-2, Puetz 1-3, Loban 1-5, Ruesink 0-1). Rebounds – G 34, SV 40. Assists – G 8, SV 21. Steals – G 6, SV 10. Blocks – G 0, SV 5. Turnovers – G 14, SV 8. Total fouls – G 9, SV 11. Technical fouls – none.