The Sioux County Warriors clinched their spot in the D2 District Basketball Finals Thursday with a win over the Crawford Rams 45-31.
The Rams looked to even the series with the Warriors, as the pair of teams met for the fourth time in the D2-12 Sub-districts in Hay Springs.
Crawford forced two turnovers on Sioux County’s opening possessions but earned just one point for their efforts. Within the opening two minutes, the Rams went ahead 4-2, but the Warriors tied the game at four and took a 6-4 lead.
The teams traded buckets until Sioux County was ahead 8-6 before Crawford’s Natalie Barry knotted the score at eight.
As the second quarter began, Sioux County seniors Kodie Rempp and Karlee Juhnke hit back-to-back treys to kick off a Warrior scoring run of 14 unanswered points for a 22-8 advantage. Crawford trailed 24-14 by half-time.
The Warriors struck first after the break, but Crawford went on a 10-0 run of its own, which included three-pointers by Kylah Vogel and Natalie Barry. The streak put them within two points of Sioux County until Rempp drained another three to make it 29-24.
Jasmine Dyer closed the gap for Crawford again hitting two from the charity stripe with a minute and half left in the third. As time ran out in the period, Beth Krein added a trey of her own to make it 32-26 in Sioux County’s favor.
Rachel Krein started the final quarter off for Sioux County with a field goal and two free throws, which Rempp followed with another three to put the Warriors ahead 39-28 with just over three minutes to play.
Juhnke added another field goal, and Kailey Klein went four-of-four at the charity stripe to put the game away.
Juhnke and Rempp combined for 25 of Sioux County’s points – 13 and 12 each, while Klein added eight and Beth Krein contributed seven. Rachel Krein had four points, and Skylar Edmund added a free throw.
Barry hit 17 for the Rams, while Dyer added four. Vogel and Morgan Jones each netted three, and Carly Lemmon and Skylar Summers added two apiece.
Sioux County 8 16 8 13 -45
Crawford 8 6 12 5 -31