Top seeded Sisseton defeated Mount Vernon/Plankinton 57-47 on Thursday afternoon in Brookings to advance to the semifinal round of the ‘A’ state girls basketball tournament. The Redmen had a big third quarter that proved to be the difference in the contest.
Krista Langager led Sisseton in scoring with 24-points. At halftime, the Redmen led 23-21. They then outscored Mount Vernon/Plankinton 21-11 in the third quarter to widen the margin. Head coach Sarah Lincoln mentioned her team's slow start.
“I think we weren’t ready yet for the first half, so really cleaned up our turnovers the second half and really got down to what we know how to do,” explained Lincoln “What’s great about our team is we can shoot and we can go on the inside, it’s a nice compliment to one another. Our guards really stepped up today and opened up for our post players.”
Despite having only four-points in the game, coach Lincoln mentioned the defensive effort by Hannah Leverson in Thursday’s bout.
“I think Hannah really ran our show on defense tonight. I think she did her job, what she said she was going to do, and she got the job done today on defense,” said Lincoln. “We can’t be any more proud of any of the girls. They really stepped up that second half and came together.”
Sisseton is the number one seed at the ‘B’ girls tournament this year. Their lone loss in the 2023-24 campaign came in early February against Sioux Falls Christian. Coach Lincoln was proud of her teams ‘no quit’ attitude.
“These young girls are really good at that. They know what they need to do and they really get it done at the end of the day,” she exclaimed. “That’s what I love about this group of girls. You think they’re done, but they’re not, they always dig a little bit deeper.”
Sisseton advances to Friday night’s semifinal round where they’ll play Vermillion with a trip to the state championship game on the line.
