Padgett's signature night puts Brandon Valley past Washington in Class AA girls semifinals

Mar. 15—RAPID CITY — With a spot in the championship game at stake, Brandon Valley's Alyvia Padgett put together a signature performance on Friday night.

It was one that advanced the Lynx through to another shot at a state title.

Padgett put up a game-high 30 points, seven assists and seven steals to push second-seeded Brandon Valley past third-seeded Sioux Falls Washington 72-56 in the Class AA state girls basketball semifinals at the Summit Arena. The win was the team's 10th in a row dating back to Feb. 7.

Brandon Valley returns to the Class AA championship game for the second consecutive season and will take on top-seeded Sioux Falls O'Gorman at 8:45 p.m. Central on Saturday at the Summit Arena. A championship rematch, the Knights took down the Lynx 55-42 a year ago to win the title.

After the game, Brandon Valley head coach Mike Zerr praised Padgett's competitive drive to benefit the Lynx in a variety of ways on the court.

"She's a star," Zerr said. "She's the ultimate competitor and when you have a kid like that as your floor leader, it makes my job awesome. She loves the game and loves to compete and I'm just really proud of her."

Early on in the first quarter, Brandon Valley (21-2) controlled the glass on the offensive end, with both Madison Geiver and Gracie Salter picking up a pair of second-chance baskets. Overall, the Lynx picked up six second-chance points in the quarter, with Padgett's floater past the midway point opening an early six-point lead.

Washington shifted focus to attacking inside and drawing contact in the paint, leading to chances at the foul line to keep the game close throughout much of the first half. Rylan Kennett made 6-of-6 free throws in the opening half, but the Warriors ultimately shot 66.7% from the charity stripe.

Despite the miscues at the line, Washington (19-4) never trailed by more than 10 points throughout the second half, pulling within six of Brandon Valley's lead off a free throw by Dana Harpe early in the third quarter. It was as close as the Warriors came, as the Lynx used rotations defensively to keep the opponents from penetrating the paint.

"We knew they would come at us in the paint all night long," Zerr said. "We told them, 'Trust your teammates, rotate and make sure we block out and rebound.' It goes back to the willingness to do the hard jobs and not just one person, but 10-12 players deep to be able to do that."

Behind Padgett, Salter finished with 11 points and a team-best seven rebounds and Evie Hoff picked up 12 points on 3-of-5 3-point shooting off the bench. Amanda Lease had seven points and Ava Kellenberger collected six of the Lynx's 20 team steals.

Washington had three double-digit scorers, led by Kennett and Grace Peterson scoring 16 points each. Peterson also tallied a game-high eight rebounds along with Harpe, who finished with 11 points. Josie Biteler also pitched in seven points off the bench. The Warriors battle Rapid City Stevens in the Class AA third-place game at 7 p.m. Central on Saturday, March 15.

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