SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The Vermillion girls were nowhere to be found in the preseason class ‘A’ rankings, however the Tanagers opened the year with 14 straight wins, placing them as the second ranked team in the class.
The Vermillion girls basketball team outlasted Luverne, Minnesota on Saturday 32-31. The Tanagers were led by seventh grader Taylor Reuvers whose late three pointer sealed the win.
“It’s pretty amazing as a seventh grader to do that! All my teammates around me and support me through all this. We work together a bunch and it’s pretty amazing playing with all of those girls,It’s pretty fun seeing them around,” Vermillion seventh grader Taylor Reuvers said.
Reuvers led the Tanagers with nine points, all of which came from beyond the arch, but coach Jon Brooks points to her versatility as a strength.
“She’ll be the first one to tell you that she uses her size to her advantage. She’s low to the ground, she’s quick, she gets after people, she gets steals a lot, and she’s a really good shooter,” Vermillion head coach Jon Brooks said
Vermillion now 14-0 celebrating the close win, but coach believes there’s a lot to take from Saturday’s game.
“Luverne presented some different problems for us that we haven’t seen, and so we come to games like classics like this to see teams like them. They’re big, they’re strong, they’re athletic, and you can tell they’re frustrated us on offense. So we’ll be able to go back watch some film, take some things from this game that hopefully we can apply moving forward,” Brooks said.
But following the game, the Tanagers had one thing in mind.
“A lot of celebrating! I think anytime you win you celebrate a win it doesn’t matter how ugly it looked or whatnot. You just got to be one point better than the other team and we hit that number right on the dot,” Brooks said.
Vermillion improved to 15-0 on Tuesday, following a 50-26 win over Beresford.
