Okoboji fell to Sioux Center 73-59 on Tuesday night in Milford. The Warriors would jump out to a 10-4 lead, but the Pioneers would answer behind Carly Carstens and Ava Packebush with a 12-5 run to end the quarter and take a 16-15 lead heading into the second frame. Both teams got it going on the offensive end in the second quarter, while neither team could create much separation as they headed into halftime knotted at 35-35. Sioux Center would turn up the defensive pressure midway through the third quarter, turning a 38-37 lead at the 5:00 mark to 55-42 at the end of the quarter by converting the Pioneer miscues into points. Okoboji could never get the lead under 11 in the fourth quarter as the Warriors would salt the game away. Okoboji was led by Ava Packebush, who had 23 points to go with 8 rebounds; Carly Carstens added 14 points and Emma Wittrock added 8 points. Cori Harald led Sioux Center with 19 points while Willow Bleeker and Makailyn Vander Wall both added 11 points. Okoboji drops to 0-4 on the season while Sioux Center improves to 2-1. Okoboji will host Class 2A third ranked Sibley-Ocheyedan on Friday night and then travel to Class 3A #1 ELC on Saturday.
Quotes from John Adams
“I loved our intensity and effort in the first half, and the start of the third quarter. I didn’t have us well-enough prepared for their press and that really turned the game midway through that 3rd quarter as we had so many live-ball turnovers that turned into easy transition points for Sioux Center. If we can figure out how to play 32 minutes we can play with anyone in this conference, as Sioux Center has a very good team, but we’ve had that one quarter each game that has really hurt us. Ava, once again, had an outstanding all-around game, and does such a good job of controlling things out there. Carly had another great game and Emma gave us some fantastic minutes off the bench. I know this group will continue to push forward and we’ll keep battling.”
