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Sioux Falls Skyforce Advance To Semi-Finals

Sanford Pentagon

The Sioux Falls Skyforce defeated the Canton Charge on Monday night 105-98 and they are on their way to the semi-final round of the NBA D League playoffs. This was a best of three series in which the Skyforce took two of the three games.

Skyforce Head Coach Pat Delany is in his first year with the team and he says it's been a great experience.  Delany says the regular season was fun, but the post season is even better. He says Monday night’s victory may not have looked good, but he’s pleased to see his team advance.

"This time of year, we’ve talked about it, it’s just about winning. It’s not about pretty or anything else and that fourth quarter was a big time effort from our guys on both ends of the floor," Delany says.

Coach Delany says his team looked more relaxed on Monday night then they did in the first two games of the series.

"Tonight I just saw in the first half, they were just very comfortable. I didn’t see that urgency that we had in game two to start. Even in game two we weren’t going well offensively, we were continuing to work and work," Delany says.

Tre Kelley led the Skyforce with 26 points. He also added two rebounds, two steals and five assists. Kelley says he’s happy to see hard work pay off for himself and his teammates.

"Guys have been working, even in the offseason. I know for myself personally, I’ve been working hard for wherever I ended up at, I wanted to make a big impact. For us to win that first round, especially the way we did it tonight with our defense in the fourth quarter, it was a really big time for us and we feel really good about it," Kelley says.

The Sioux Falls Skyforce played in front of over twenty five hundred fans. The Skyforce begins the semi-final round on Thursday night at home against the regular season number one seed, Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

Nate Wek is currently the sports content producer and sports and rec beat reporter for South Dakota Public Broadcasting. He is a graduate of South Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism Broadcasting and a minor in Leadership. From 2010-2013 Nate was the Director of Gameday Media for the Sioux Falls Storm (Indoor Football League) football team. He also spent 2012 and 2013 as the News and Sports Director of KSDJ Radio in Brookings, SD. Nate, his wife Sarah, and two kids Braxan and Jordy, live in Canton, SD.