Class A girls roundup: No. 2 Wagner cruises to state semifinal round

WATERTOWN, S.D. — A complete effort powered the No. 2 seed Wagner girls basketball team to a Class A state quarterfinal victory on Thursday night at the Watertown Civic Arena by a 67-47 score of Rapid City Christian.

The win moves the Red Raiders to 23-1 and sets up a matchup with No. 6 Sisseton (20-2), which upended Sioux Falls Christian, 58-47, in the final quarterfinal on Thursday night.

Four players scored in double figures, led by freshman Ashlyn Koupal’s 22 points and seven rebounds. Emma Yost had 17 points on 8-for-11 shooting and nine rebounds, plus 14 points from Shalayne Nagel and 11 points and nine rebounds from Macy Koupal.

“This is what our team has been doing all year,” Wagner coach Mike Koupal told the SDPB-TV broadcast after the game. “You look at the scoreboard, we’ve got four players in double figures and really, any one of my top-six can score 20 a night. Ashlyn and Emma had a great job inside, we could make shots in the perimeter when we had to.”

Wagner led 16-3 after the first period and 28-16 at halftime. A 22-13 surge in the fourth quarter put the game away for the Red Raiders, who shot 52.2% and converted 9 of 19 3-pointers in the game.

The Comets were held to 29.6% shooting, with University of South Dakota signee Olivia Kieffer scoring 20 points on 6-for-23 shooting from the field, plus five steals. Hayden Thorton had 11 points and Alexa Ham had 10 for RC Christian, which was outrebounded 39-24.

“Give credit to Rapid City Christian, Olivia is an incredible player. She’s scored 2,400 points for a reason,” Koupal said. “I thought we did a pretty decent job on her.”

WATERTOWN — A 17-7 fourth quarter broke a 25-all tie heading to the final period for No. 1 Hamlin to get past No. 8 Flandreau in the Class A girls state quarterfinals on Thursday at the Watertown Civic Arena.

Kami Wadsworth finished with 18 points, while Addison Neuendorf had 12 points and Marissa Bawdon finished with 10 points. Ally Abraham had nine rebounds, as the Chargers had seven of their 13 made field goals come via 3-pointers.

The Chargers made matters tough on Flandreau, which finished shooting 27.1% for the game and 21.4% in the second half. Claire Sheppard had eight points and six rebounds but was 2-for-17 from the field in the game. Lily Klein and Sadie Iott each had seven points for the Fliers, who were kept to 4 of 5 on free throws in the game.

Hamlin (20-3) will face Red Cloud at 6 p.m. on Friday night for a trip to the Class A state championship. Flandreau (19-6) will take on Lakota Tech in the consolation round on Friday.

WATERTOWN — Red Cloud scored 47 points in the second half to defeat Region 7A rival Lakota Tech in the Class A state girls basketball quarterfinal on Thursday.

Lolo Carlow and Maikole Carlow each hit five 3-pointers, with Lolo Carlow scoring 23 points and Maikole Carlow posting 21 points, with Ashlan Blound and Kennedy Friada each added eight points. The Crusaders hit 11 of 18 3-pointers and converted 21 of 32 free throws in the victory.

For the Tatanka, Shania Ferguson scored 21 points and Melina Shangreaux had 16 points. Lakota Tech finished with a 38-29 edge in rebounding.

Red Cloud (21-2) faces Hamlin in the Class A semifinals on Friday. Lakota Tech (19-5) will face Flandreau on Friday in the consolation bracket.