GARRETSON — Sioux Valley jumped ahead early and its defense led the way as the Cossacks defeated Garretson 66-25 in the first round of the Big East Conference Tournament on Thursday night.

The Cossacks opened the game on a 10-1 run in the first quarter and led 16-5 heading into the second quarter. Sioux Valley ran its lead up to 25 points in the second quarter and took a 40-16 lead into halftime.

The rest of the night was smooth sailing for the Cossacks, who out-scored Garretson 16-7 in the third quarter. By going on a 10-2 run in the fourth quarter, Sioux Valley improved to 6-0 and set up a semifinal matchup against Chester in Garretson on Friday night.

Boden Schiller scored a team-high 11 points for the Cossacks while pulling down six rebounds with four steals, a block and an assist. Maxwell Engebretson also scored in double-figures, scoring 10 points with four points two assists and a steal.

Alex Squires had nine points, eight rebounds, three assists and a block for Sioux Valley Maverick Nelson had seven points with a rebound and an assist.

Nelson McCade, Brock Christopherson and Hudsyn Ruesink had six points each in the win. Ruesink also had four rebounds, a block and an assist while Christopherson had four assists and four steals. McCade had two rebounds.

Ian Buettner led the way for Garretson with nine points, four rebounds, a block, an assist and a steal. Blaine Trower also had four points and two rebounds for the Blue Dragons.

The Cossacks held the Blue Dragons to 26 percent shooting on the night including 2-for-14 on 3-pointers. Sioux Valley also forced 22 turnovers and doubled up Garretson on the glass with a 32-16 advantage in rebounds.

Sioux Valley shot 49 percent from the floor and 5-for-15 (33%) on 3-pointers. The Cossacks also went 7-for-11 (63.6%) from the free throw line.