Sisseton, Vermillion, Sioux Falls Christian and Tea Area record first-round victories
BROOKINGS — Top-seeded Sisseton earned a repeat trip to the semifinals with a 57-47 opening-round win over Mount Vernon-Plankinton on Thursday in the state Class A girls basketball tournament.
Sissters Krista and Chloe Landmark combined for 36 points and 20 rebounds and junior Ruby Rice canned a trio of key 3-pointers to help the Redmen push their season record to 22-1.
Krista Landmark, a 6-foot-2 junior, scored 14 of Sisseton's first 16 points and finished with 24 points and six rebounds. Chloe Landmark, a 6-1 senior, added 12 points and 14 rebounds. Emmalee Nielsen added eight assists and Hannah Leverson five.
Sisseton trailed 18-17 late in the first half before Rice canned two 3-pointers to lift her team to a 23-19 halftime lead. She also opened the second half with another 3 and helped the Redmen grab control.
Sisseton buried 20-of-49 field-goal attempts for 41 percent and also gained a 40-30 rebounding advantage.
Reagan Rus and Emilee Fox each tallied 16 points and six rebounds for MVP (18-6). Fox, a South Dakota State signee, made only six of 21 field-goal attempts including 4-of-16 3-pointers.
MVP made 16 of 54 field-goal attempts for 30 percent, including a 5-for-33 effort in 3-pointers.
In other games Thursday, it was:
No. 4 Vermillion 41, No. 5 Maȟpíya Lúta 37
Vermillion used a 9-0 run late in the fourth quarter to pull out the first-round win. The Tanagers (20-4) trailed 35-32 with 3:37 remaining.
Brooke Jensen's 13 points and 12 rebounds and Chandler Cleveland's nine and nine sparked Vermillion, which made 16 of 51 field-goal attempts for 31 percdent and owned the boards 50-37.
Ashlan Blount had 16 points, Jodene Hunter 12 points and Dorthie Mesteth eight rebounds for Maȟpíya Lúta (22-1), which shot only 26 percent (16 of 62).
No. 2 Sioux Falls Christian 53, No. 7 Hanson 42
The Chargers (21-2) led at each quarter break on the way to the win.
Maya Nelson scored 14 points, Avery Reitz 11 and Aubrie VanBeek 10 for SFC, which converted 20 of 58 field-goal atempts for 35 percent. Reitz also hauled in seven rebounds.
Eliza Oltmanns finished with 14 points and Alyssa Moschell and Taziah Hawkins 13 each for Hanson (17-6). Moschell also pulled down 10 rebounds.
Hanson went 14-of-41 from the field for 34 percent.
More: State girls tourneys to run Thursday through Saturday at Brookings, Rapid City & Sioux Falls
No. 6 Tea Area 52, No, 3 Flandreau 47
Tea Area (20-4) knocked off unbeaten and top-ranked and previously-unbeaten Flandreau (22-1) 52-47 in the final opening-round game.
Ellie Clayberg scored 17 points and South Dakota State recruit Katie Vasecka 14 to go with eight rebounds for the winning Titans, who shot 49 percent (19 of 39) from the field.
Lily Klein notched 19 points, SDSU recruit Claire Sheppard 14 points and Lizzie Pavlis eight points and 13 rebounds for Flandreau, which shot 39 percent (21 of 54) from the field. The Fliers converted only two of 10 free throws and three of 21 3-pointers.
Tea Area led 44-36 after three quarters. Flndrdau cut the lead to 48-45 with Klein's 3 with 1:34 left. Vasecka fouled out with 1:01 left but Tea Area held on with three free throws from Clayberg and anotehr from Weber in the final 42 seconds.
SoDak 16 Girls: State Class A and B fields completed SoDak 16 state-qualifying games on Thursday
Friday's Scheduled Games
Mount Vernon-Plankinton vs. Maȟpíya Lúta at noon and Hanson vs,. Flandreau at 1:45 p.m. Central in consolation semifinals. Sisseton vs. Vermillion at 6 p.m. and Sioux Falls Christian vs. Tea Area at 7:45 p.m. in semifinal games.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Opening day of the state Class A girls basketball tourney at Brookings
