Sibley-Ocheyedan needs one more victory to make state

Feb. 21—SIBLEY, Iowa. — Whether or not the Sibley-Ocheyedan High School girls basketball team actually gets to play for a state tournament berth tomorrow (Wednesday, Feb. 22) is basically beside the point. The Generals WILL have their game regardless of what the weather brings — and it's a game they've been looking forward to all season.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the 7 p.m. Class 2A, Region 3 championship contest between the 20-3 Generals and a 17-6 Sioux Central team was still on the schedule.

The winner of the game qualifies for the Iowa state tournament.

Sibley-Ocheyedan has enjoyed a remarkable 2022-23 season thus far, losing only to West Lyon once and to Central Lyon twice. Fortunately for the Generals, perhaps, there are no longer any Lyons in their path.

Just Sioux Central.

"They have a lot of good guards," Sibley-Ocheyedan head coach Zach Wessels described Sioux Central Tuesday afternoon. "They have two good freshman posts. They're more guard-oriented. They play well together, for what we've seen."

Sibley-Ocheyedan is an experienced outfit which has had the state tournament as its goal since the beginning of the current campaign.

Madison Brouwer, a 6-1 senior, is an outstanding rebounder and scorer who can find the net anywhere on the court. She's averaging 18.4 points per game with 251 rebounds. Senior point guard Bria Wasmund is a quick, all-purpose ball-handler and passer who has 130 assists and 52 steals while averaging 11.1 points per game. Junior Zoe Ackerman has 48 steals and 205 points, and senior Marissa Ackerman has 174 rebounds to go along with 309 points.

"We have six seniors, and they're all talented and they play well together," said Wessels. "Last year they lost in the sub-state game and that hurt, and they wanted another crack at it. A lot of them have been playing together since the sixth grade. The chemistry is fun to see."