Alyvia Padgett paces Brandon Valley with 22 points as Lynx advance to state championship game
The Brandon Valley girls basketball team started their semifinal against Harrisburg much the same way they started against Spearfish in the quarterfinals a night ago.
The Lynx brought defensive intensity from the start and held the Tigers to four points in the first quarter and seven in the second quarter on their way to a 51-36 win.
“Our energy and effort right away. It's just, it's a hallmark of this group,” Brandon Valley girls basketball coach Mike Zerr said. “They really come out fast … It's a lot of fun as a coach to stand there and know that hopefully, we can dictate some stuff right out of the gate with our defensive effort.”
“I feel like we have good intensity on defense and that's one of our main things that we're pretty good at,” Brandon Valley sophomore guard Alyvia Padgett said postgame. “We keep that same energy every game.”
Padgett had two steals and led the way for the Lynx on offense with her relentless drives to the rim. She finished with a game-high 22 points.
“She's a special player,” Zerr said of Padgett. “That's somebody, that as a coach, you can just put a lot of trust in, no matter how old they are.”
After having a dream shooting night in their quarterfinal against Mitchell, Harrisburg struggled mightily to put the ball in the basket. They shot 16% in the first half and 25% for the game.
After making 10 3-pointers against the Kernels on 50% shooting from deep, the Tigers went 1-for-11 from beyond the arc against Brandon Valley.
Harrisburg will play Jefferson in the third-place game Saturday night at 6 p.m.
Meanwhile, the win for Brandon Valley sets up a championship game against undefeated O’Gorman, who beat the Lynx by 37 points in the first game of the season.
“I'm really excited,” Padgett said. “I have a good feeling that we're going to put on a good show tomorrow. I feel like we've gotten way better and we’re going to make them pay.”
Jonathan Fernandez covers high school and college sports for the Argus Leader. Contact him at jfernandez1@argusleader.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFERN31
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Alyvia Padgett dominates, Brandon Valley advance to state title game
