Sports

Sioux down Velva; finish fifth

By Bottineau Courant Staff

02/07/2012

A 58-44 thrashing of Velva last Monday capped the end of the district schedule for the Westhope-Newburg Sioux.

In their only game of the week the Sioux made the most of it as they used staunch defense and electric offense to crawl out of a four-point halftime deficit and turn it into a commanding win.

Sophomore Hunter Braaten had a fantastic night leading the Sioux with 23 points and seven steals as well as grabbing six rebounds.

Sioux leading scorer Kodie Hancock also was in the mix leading the team with 10 rebounds and dropping 15 points on the Sioux despite playing in foul trouble.

Junior Karlie Hancock had eight points and six boards, and Wyatt Kitzman and Jon Sivertson each had six to help the Sioux blow past the Aggies for their third region win.

The 8-10 overall Sioux finished with a 3-4 record in District 11 play following the win over Velva. They started out 0-3 falling to Rugby, Towner-Granville-Upham and Bottineau before winning three of their final four games to finish with the fifth seed heading into the district tournament.

The Sioux will face fourth-seeded Dunseith on Thursday to kick off their chance at making regions.

The top four finishers in the district tourney advance to play regions at the Minot Auditorium beginning Feb. 20.
Westhope-Newburg also played a final contest of the season last night against Garrison, but stats were unavailable by press time.
Notes:

• Minus the regular season finale against Garrison the Sioux have averaged 58.4 points per game in 18 games this season.
• They are led by junior Kodie Hancock, who, through those 18 games, has averaged 16.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. He also leads the team with 51 steals.
• Sophomore Hunter Braaten is averaging 14.8 points and 3.8 assists per game, and is second with 45 steals.