The Sioux Valley girls basketball team has a purple teddy bear on their bench during the state tournament this week. That bear is a symbol to honor one of their own.
In late September of this school year, Raegan Nelson, a freshman for the Cossacks, was commuting to school when she got into a car accident. She passed away due to her injuries on October 1st at the age of 14. Nelson was on the volleyball team and slated to play basketball for Sioux Valley this season as well. She also loved softball and music.
“You just can’t imagine having that feeling. If we can do a small token, we’ve got a shooting shirt for her and her family has been great,” said Cossacks girls basketball coach Jamie Granum. “It puts everything that we do into perspective. We’re playing a silly game of basketball and there’s life things that go on.”
Coach Granum also mentioned the character of his players and the community support in Volga. His message is there’s more to life than basketball.
“Each one of these girls someday is going to be a mom and a community member and stuff like that,” he explained. “There’s nothing like small town basketball and [our fans] have traveled a long way, they’ve spent a lot of money to watch us play basketball, so we’re extremely thankful for them.”
Sioux Valley defeated Wagner 56-46 in the consolation semifinals on Friday afternoon from Black Hills State in Spearfish. The Cossacks will play Mobridge-Pollock for the consolation championship on Saturday at 1:45 pm MT. It will air live on SDPB1-TV.
