The sixth grade Plainview/Osmond girls continue to march through the season with the conclusion of league play and tournaments in Laurel and Wayne.
In the Laurel tournament on Jan.
31, the team brought home the silver medal. The girls fought through the preliminary rounds, beating Crofton 22-18 and Randolph 26-17. They met Wayne in the championship game and after a back-and-forth game, ended up with the loss 23-19.
“We got in foul trouble early, which led to girls playing out of position and caused some confusion on the floor.
The game was a good opportunity to build our basketball IQ and learn situational basketball,” stated Coach Dave Dougherty.
Next, the team went into the Stanton League Tournament as the undefeated #1 seed. The Pirates held true to the prediction. They defeated Madison first by a score of 42-6, then matched up against Howels-Dodge in the championship round. The Pirates came out victorious, 52-14.
Leading the team in scoring were Swayzey Alexander and Bentley Dougherty with 14 each, followed by Jocelynn Buck, 7; Bristal Stelling, 5; Shay Miller and Hailey Gutz, 4 each, and Emerson Wagner and Henley Marks, both with 2.
Rebounds were led by Swayzey and Emerson, 8; Bentley, 6; Hailey, 4; Bristal and Jocelynn, 3 each; Shay and Henley, 2 each, and Bethany Krause and Kiley Friedrich, 1 each. Leading in the steals category were Bentley and Swayzey, 5; Jocelynn, 3; Emerson, 2, and Bethany, 1. Blocked shots were led by Shay with 2. Coach Julie Krause said, “We utilized everyone on the team to make plays. That well rounded attack made us successful.”
Next, the team traveled to Wayne for the Clash of the Plains Tournament. The team started the day against a tough Pender team. The Plainview/ Osmond Pirates came up short with a loss 13-12.
After the first round, the team bounced back and defeated Randolph 28-10. ThisputthePiratesupagainst Pierce for a fifth-place finish. In a hard-fought game, the Pirates came out victorious with a score of 28-23.
Coach Mary Dougherty reports, “We play in these bigger tournaments to learn to handle more pressure and play sharper. The girls came out hesita nt in the first game but learned to hold their composure better in the final game to defeat a very talented Pierce team. Unfortunately, the bracket set up only allows for a fifth place fin - ish with a loss in the first round, but we ended the day 2-1 with only a 1-point loss against well-established programs. We will be happy with that for this week and work to improve for the next tournament.”
Team scoring for the tournament was led by Swayzey with 23, followed by Bentley, 20; Bristal, Hailey, and Jocelynn, 6 each; Shay, 3, and Kiley, 2. Rebounding efforts were led by Swayzey with 23; Bentley, 10; Bristal, 8; Hailey, 7; Jocelynn, 6; Emerson, 5; Shay, 4, and Kiley, 3. Steals were led by Bentley and Swayzey with 7 each; Shay and Bristal, 3 each; Kiley, 2, and Jocelynn and Emerson, 1 each.
The team will continue tournament play on Feb. 21 at the Hansen-Haas Tournament in Yankton and finish on March 7-8th in the Plainview Ball Backers Tournament.
Sixth grade Pirates win Gold in Stanton League Tournament, back row: Shay Miller (left), Jocelynn Buck, SwayzeyAlexander, Emerson Wagner, Bristal Stelling, Hailey Gutz; front row: Kiley Friedrich, Bethany Krause, Henley Marks, Bentley Dougherty, Grace Krause
