UPDATE 2/23/23: On Wednesday, the Garretson School District announced changes to the schedule for round two of region play. The game will now be held on Saturday, February 25 at 2:00 p.m. at the Garretson School gym. The article has been updated to reflect this change.
The last ten days have been busy for the Garretson Lady Dragon basketball team, as they finished out their regular season play and began the first round of the Region 3A Tournament. In all three games, the team came out ahead, though their wins against Sioux Valley and Dell Rapids were hard-fought, edge-of-the-seat battles to the end. The Dragons will next take on West Central in the second round of postseason play.
Garretson pulls a fast break on Parker
On Wednesday, February 15, the Dragons headed down to Parker to take on the Pheasants. While they let the Pheasants look at the net, the Dragons pulled several fast breaks and three pointers and came out on top 68-43.
Garretson came out of the gate shooting, and grabbed the first two points on a lay-up by Jordyn Williams. The Dragons then widened the gap slightly, but allowed the Pheasants to stay close behind during the first part of the quarter. By the end of the first eight minutes, however, the team had widened the lead 22-12 and only increased it from there until the final buzzer called the game 68-43.
In all, the team celebrated 38 rebounds, 14 assists, 21 steals, and 5 blocks.
Garretson edges out Sioux Valley in edge-of-the-seat game
Last week Thursday, the Dragons hosted the Sioux Valley Cossacks in a double header that left the audience on the edge of their seats for the entire game. The Lady Dragons were victorious 45-43, pulling out the win in the final seconds.
While Garretson was able to pull the first two points of the game, the Cossacks let the Dragons know early on that they weren't just going to roll over. The two teams battled back and forth for the lead. The Dragons managed to stay a half step ahead, but entered the half on a tie, 18-18.
In the third quarter, Sioux Valley pulled ahead to 24-29 before the Dragons could find the back of the net again. Garretson didn't allow that to stand for long as they tied the game back up 29-29. Sioux Valley did manage to end the quarter one point ahead of the Dragons, 31-32, and managed to keep the lead for the first half of the fourth quarter. With the second half remaining, both teams were very much still in play as Garretson pulled ahead 39-36.
The Dragons collected four more points, then the two teams amped up the heat as they passed the ball back and forth across the court. With just over a minute left in the game, the Cossacks brought the game back up to 42-41. At 30 seconds left, the Cossacks attempted two shots that didn't land, leaving the Dragons to catch the rebound. A foul on the Cossacks left Williams on the free throw line at 20 seconds remaining, giving the Dragons two more points but giving the opponents the ball. Sioux Valley successfully gathered two more points with 10 seconds remaining, but another foul put Williams back on the line. She hit the net two more times, bringing the score to 45-43 and 4 seconds remaining. Both coaches used their final time outs, leaving the cheering audience breathless as to whether the Cossacks would successfully tie or upset the Dragons. It was not to be as Sioux Valley missed its final shot, leaving the Dragons victorious.
In all, the Lady Dragons had 44 rebounds, 3 assists, and 6 steals.
Dragons celebrate after nail-biting win
On Monday, the Garretson Lady Dragon basketball team hosted the Dell Rapids Quarriers for the first round of postseason play, one night earlier than planned due to the forecasted storm later in the week. Despite being the 7th seed, the Quarriers brought their A-game and made sure the Dragons worked hard for their 58-53 win.
The first quarter saw the two teams battling back and forth for the first few points, until the Dragons were able to get a 6-point lead on the Quarriers. However, the opponents didn't back down and the quarter ended at 12-11 in favor of the Dragons.
Despite Garretson having the lead and attempting to widen it during the beginning of the second quarter, the Quarriers stayed hot on the Dragons' heels until it was nearly half over. At that time, the Dragons were able to go on a 13-point run and eat up much of the rest of the quarter before Dells was able to gather one more point. The teams went into the half 31-20, and both came out of the gate on fire for the third quarter.
Garretson kept the 10-point lead for much of quarter three, but the Quarriers began to close that gap in the final few minutes, narrowing it to a too-close 36-34 before a three-pointer by Logan Bly pulled the team back out to a more comfortable margin.
The fourth quarter saw the two teams again tie it up 44-44, and Dell Rapids even briefly pulled ahead 48-49. As the crowds went wild, Logan Bly successfully stole the ball and passed it to Raegen Altman, who scored two more points to put the Dragons back in front. With less than half the final quarter remaining, the teams traded the lead back and forth until Garretson was able to pull into a slight lead and keep it.
At twenty seconds remaining, Williams pulled off another two-pointer, bringing the score to 58-53 and effectively ending the game in favor of the Dragons.
Garretson will now move into the second round of the Region 3A Tournament and are slated to play West Central in Garretson on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
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