Lady Fliers win Conference Tourney
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, below, or purchase a new subscription.
Please log in to continue |
VOLGA – The Flandreau Fliers used their blend of length and athleticism to get off to a fast start and were able to hold off a late rally as they defeated the Sioux Valley Cossacks 52-47 to win the Big East Conference Tournament championship at the Cossack Center in Volga on Saturday afternoon.
The Fliers set the tone early, scoring the first six points of the game and raced out to a 20-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. Flandreau’s offense was fueled by Claire Sheppard, who scored 12 of her 18 points in the first quarter and used her physicality to gain an advantage in the paint.
“One thing about Claire is that she can score in so many different ways,” Flandreau head coach Megan Severtson said. “It makes her difficult to guard. I think her teammates did a really good job of looking for her while also finding each other on some wide-open cuts once the defense focused on her.”
The Cossacks did their best to chip into the lead during the second quarter but it was the Fliers length that caused problems on the defensive end. While Sioux Valley head coach Jamie Granum liked what he saw offensively from his team, he also acknowledged Flandreau’s ability to cut off some of the passing lanes.
“Their physicality bumps us off driving lanes and that small bump and that hand on your hip when you’re driving…will take out the rhythm of a shooter and we can’t mimic those kinds of contested shots in practice,” Granum said. “We had about every shot we wanted tonight, we just didn’t make them.”
Sioux Valley battled to out-score Flandreau 17-12 in the second quarter and go into halftime down 32-25. The Fliers were able to run their lead back to double-digits early in the third quarter but the Cossacks continued to push, going into the fourth quarter down 43-36.
Flandreau appeared to have the game wrapped up into the final minutes with a 52-39 lead, but the Cossacks’ defense held the Fliers without a field goal over the final 4:44. Their effort on the defensive end led to late 8-0 run that was capped off with a 3-pointer by Ashley Bjerke.
With the lead down to five points, the Cossacks forced a shot clock violation and with the chance to make it a one-possession game, Bjerke’s 3-pointer missed, Sheppard grabbed the rebound and the Fliers killed just enough clock to close out the victory.
After the game, Severtson applauded the Cossacks ability to score points quickly, which was led by Bjerke’s team-high 15 points and seven rebounds and 12 points and nine boards from Landree Wilson but also commended her team for holding Sioux Valley to 38.6 percent shooting on the night.
“Sioux Valley has so many scoring threats,” Severtson said. “They’re an incredibly difficult team to defend and I think the emphasis for us tonight was taking away the 3-point line because they are one of the best teams in the state at making 3-pointers. The rest just kind of came when we trusted each other defensively. I thought the girls did a good job of fighting on this last day of the tournament.”
Sioux Valley was 10-of-26 from outside the arc.