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Sioux Valley outscores Mobridge-Pollock for fifth at State A

Mobridge-Pollock's Blake Thompson drives past a Sioux Valley defender during the fifth-place game of the Class A state tournament on Saturday at the Donald E. Young Center on the campus of Black Hills State University in Spearfish. (Photo by Matt Gade/605 Sports)

SPEARFISH – Mobridge-Pollock found itself in a tough spot Saturday afternoon: focus on the perimeter or shutdown the inside.

In the end Sioux Valley exploited both options on the way to a 74-59 win over the Tigers during the fifth place game at the Class A State Girls’ Basketball Tournament at the Donald E. Young Center.

The Cossacks nailed 11 3-pointers to spead out the Mobridge-Pollock defense, and took advantage of the lane as well outscoring the Tigers 16-4 in the paint.

“The girls dug in and gave it everything they had,” said Mobridge-Pollock coach Stephen Hettick. “Sioux Valley found their rhythm from the perimeter and had us outsized enough on the inside that we just couldn’t guard both parts.”

The Tigers jumped on top by scoring the game’s first seven points. However, Sioux Valley soon found its range from the outside and scored 20 points in the final 6:45 of the opening quarter. Liberty Trygstad led the surge with a trio of 3-pointers.

While the game remained tight, the Tigers never led again.

Mobridge-Pollock scored the first six points of the second half to trim a seven-point halftime deficit to 31-30. However, the Cossacks quickly extended the lead to double digits and the Tigers could never get the deficit under double digits in the fourth quarter.

Blake Thompson scored 13 second-half points to try and keep Mobridge-Pollock within striking distance. But University of South Dakota commit Kailey Cradduck had 14 points in the same time span to keep Sioux Valley on top.

Cradduck finished with a game-high 21 points and Keyra Kruse followed with 11. The duo controlled life in the lane for the Cossacks as Kruse hauled down 16 rebounds and Cradduck collected 13.

Talya Vincent led the Sioux Valley 3-point barrage with five treys on the way to 17 points. Trygstad had a trio of threes and finished with 16 points.

Thompson led Mobridge-Pollock with 20 points and was named to the all-tournament team. Brooke Bain and Faith Heil each contributed nine, and Tegan Konold added eight.

Senior Charley Henderson had six points, three rebounds, and a pair of blocked shots in her final game for the Tigers.

“Charley has been instrumental to the success and the improvement of this program for the past four years. She has an amazing work ethic and grew into a tremendous leader for us,” Hettick said. “She’s not just a great player, but she is an even better person. She is someone the younger kids can look up to and strive to be like as they grow.”

The Tigers capped their season with a 19-5 record and return every member off of this year’s team with the exception of Henderson.

“The program continues to take a step forward every year,” Hettick said. “This is an incredible group of girls and they work hard every day to achieve their goals. No doubt they will continue to improve and be even better next year.”

SIOUX VALLEY (21-5): Talya Vincent 6 0-0 17, Liberty Trygstad 6 1-2 16, Amara Ward 2 1-2 7, Keyra Kruse 5 1-2 11, Kailey Cradduck 9 2-4 21, Audrey Larsen 1 0-0 2. Totals 29-57 5-10 74.

MOBRIDGE-POLLOCK (19-5): Tegan Konold 3 0-2 8, Brooke Bain 4 1-1 9, Charley Henderson 2 0-0 6, Faith Heil 4 0-0 9, Blake Thompson 7 3-6 20, Jacy Netterville 2 0-0 4, Jayda Thompson 1 0-0 2, Shayla Rath 0 1-2 1. Totals 23-62 5-11 59.

Sioux Valley 20 31 53 74

Mobridge-Pollock 17 24 42 59

3-point field goals – Vincent 5, Trygstad 3, Ward 2, Cradduck; Konold 2, Henderson 2, Heil, B. Thompson 3. Total fouls – Sioux Valley 14; Mobridge-Pollock 11. Rebounds – Sioux Valley 47 (Kruse 16, Cradduck 13); Mobridge-Pollock 29 (Konold 7, Heil 6). Turnovers – Sioux Valley 19; Mobridge-Pollock 12. Assists – Sioux Valley 16 (Cradduck 5, Kruse 4); Mobridge-Pollock 10 (Henderson 3). Blocked shots – Sioux Valley 3 (Kruse 2); Mobridge-Pollock 3 (Henderson 2). Steals – Sioux Valley 6 (Kruse 2); Mobridge-Pollock 11 (Heil 4).

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