GAYVILLE-VOLIN STUNS FREEMAN GIRLS IN 4B FINALE
Freeman Public never leads as Gayville-Volin takes down girls 36-34
Exactly one week after losing to the Freeman High School girls by 25 points in the regular-season finale, third-seeded Gayville-Volin turned the tables on the second-seed Flyers, scoring a 36-34 upset win in the third round of the Region 4B Girls Basketball Tournament Thursday night, Feb. 22 in Centerville.
The victory moves the Raiders to the SoDak 16 with a 15-7 record, where they will be the No. 16 seed taking on No. 1-seed Arlington (20-2) at Stanley County.
Freeman finishes the season 16-6.
“It wasn’t one play or one person or one quarter; it just seemed like things weren’t clicking tonight,” Flyers head coach Jenny Peters said following Thursday’s upset loss. “We played hard — the girls always play hard and give it 100% — but Gavyille-Volin came out ready to play. They played fast, they played aggressive, their shots seemed to fall and we couldn’t get ours to fall.
“It seems like it just wasn’t meant to be.”
The Raiders never trailed, leading 9-8 after the first quarter, 20-15 at the half and 31-28 after three periods. The Flyers did, however, connect on a three-pointer by junior Ella Waltner with 8 seconds left in game that would have given them a 37-36 lead, but it didn’t count because Freeman head coach called a timeout just before the shot went up.
Freeman turned the ball over on their ensuing inbounds pass and the Raiders ran out the clock.
The Flyers’ 34 points was the second lowest of the season for a team that averaged 57.7 per game; they only scored fewer in a 73-32 loss to top-ranked Centerville on Jan. 6.
The Region 4B loss to the Raiders was particularly disappointing for a Flyers team that had its sights set on what would have been their first state tournament since 2019. Freeman’s regular season effort that drew a number of votes in the Class B poll had them positioned to go into the SoDak 16 as the No. 12 seed facing No. 4 Wall — a team that the Flyers had on the ropes as part of the DWU Culvers Classic at the Corn Palace on Feb. 9.
Instead, they never got the chance.
“I told the girls that this one stings for sure, but it was a great season,” Peters said. “We had a very successful season — lots of positive things — and individually all the girls got better. There was major growth and that is something to be proud of.”
Senior Ashlin Jacobsen led the Flyers with 11 points and three steals while senior Cami Fransen had seven rebounds. Freshman Rylee Peters added 10 points.
Box score
Ashlin Jacobsen: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals; Rylee Peters: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal; Cami Fransen: 6 points, 7 rebounds, 1 steal; Vaida Ammann: 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals; Ella Waltner: 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist; Cadence Hofer: 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal; Peyton McCune: 1 assist, 1 steal
Next season
Freeman will lose Jacobsen and Fransen to graduation but will return a number of other key players from this year’s team. The Flyers this season saw contributions from starting junior point guard Peyton McCune; Lindsey Maske and Waltner; starting sophomore Vaida Ammann; starting freshman Rylee Peters; as well as freshman Cadence Hofer.
This year’s varsity roster also included eighth graders Libby Ammann and Isabel Waltner.
