VOLGA – The Sioux Valley girls’ basketball team struggled for a third straight game Saturday, falling 66-40 at home against Sisseton.

Sioux Valley started the season 5-0 and has now lost by more than 25 points in its past three games.

“I know the competition has changed more so than we have,” said Sioux Valley head coach Jamie Granum. “Coming out of Christmas break, we have to figure out some things defensively. You know, but you can’t win many basketball games [scoring] 40 and under. So we have to figure out a way both offensively and defensively. We missed too many lay ups and too many free throws. Still doesn’t make up for 26 points. We can’t string together stops right now and if we don’t get better defensively we’ve got a long road ahead of us.”

The Redmen (5-3) got it going early and led 23-11 after the first quarter. They kept the momentum going in the second quarter and took a 47-21 lead into halftime. The Cossacks played better in the second half as they matched the Redmen’s 19 points.

Sioux Valley had 16 fouls as a team and eight of them came in the first quarter. Granum said the fouls played a part in Sioux Valley’s loss.

“[Fouling was an issue], but we came out guarding man-to-man, which we haven’t played a lot. We thought we could pressure their guards a little bit. Didn’t turn in our favor. Fouling is a mistake and we were out of position multiple times and we just didn’t get it done,” Granum said.

Isabelle Bloker led the Cossacks with 21 points. Reagan Johnson had nine points and Abbie Schneider had seven. Sioux Valley 28.3% from the field and were 3-for-17 from three. The Cossacks were outrebounded 34-26.

Sisseton was led by Chloe Langer who had a double-double with 26 points and 13 rebounds. Hailey Nelson had 16 points. Emmalee Nielsen had 11 points and six rebounds. The Redmen shot 48.9% from the field and were 4-for-8 from three.

The Cossacks face Chester Area tonight on the road. Granum said his team needs to work on the fundamentals if they want to get things turned around.

“Some thing we talked about in the locker room was things about focusing on ourselves,” Granum said “Belief in each other. Showing up on Sundays. Getting extra shots in. All of that stuff that takes time to develop as a basketball program. We’re making progress as a basketball program. I know on the outside looking in it sometimes it doesn’t look that way and sometimes scoreboards are deceiving both in wins and losses. This is a team that’s going to keep working. I told them in the locker room ‘I believe in this group we have.’ We just didn’t get anything done tonight at all.”

SISSETON 66, SIOUX VALLEY 40

Sisseton (5-3)

Chloe Langager 10-14 5-6 26, Hailey Nelson 6-9 1-4 16, Emmalee 2-6 7-8 11, Avery Despiegler 1-2 2-2 4, Georgia Hamm 1-2 0-0 2, Kierra Silk 1-6 0-0 2, Veronica Rice 1-2 0-0 2, Raegan Janssen 1-5 0-0 2, Linnea Silk 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-47 15-20 65.

Sioux Valley (5-3)

Isabelle Bloker 8-18 4-4 21, Reagan Johnson 4-10 1-7 9, Abbie Schneider 2-6 1-2 7, Ashley Bjerke 1-5 0-0 2, Julia Schneider 0-8 0-0 0, Savannah Rawden 0-1 0-0 0, Jada Knutson 0-2 0-0 0, Keyra Kruse 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-53 7-18 40.

Sisseton       23 24 15 4 – 66

Sioux Valley 11 10 10 9 – 40

3-point field goals – SI 4-8 (Nelson 3-3, Langager 1-1, K. Silk 0-1, L. Silk 0-1, Nielsen 0-2), SV 3-17 (A. Schneider 2-4, Bloker 1-6, Rawden 0-1, Bjerke 0-2, J. Schneider 0-4). Rebounds – SI 34 (Langager 13), SV 26 (Knutson 5). Assists – SI 12 (Nielsen 6), SV 9 (J. Schneider 6). Steals – SI 8 (Nelson 3), SV 12 (Knutson 4). Turnovers – SI 15, SV 10. Total fouls – SI 15, SV 16. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.