The Keota girls basketball team used a run at the start of each half to take the latest edition of the Sigourney and Keota rivalry Friday night in Sigourney 56-32. The Eagles started the game on an 11-1 run keyed by defense and hot shooting. Holding a 25-17 halftime lead Keota took full control with a 12-0 run out of the locker room and led by as many as 24 in the second half. Following the game Keota Head Coach Jenny Hobbs spoke about her team’s defensive effort and bench play that helped the Eagles put together both runs.

“We’re going to press the entire game, and to tell you the truth the kids coming off the bench comes in and really turns up the intensity because they are super fast, and not very big and they weave in and out and get steals, so when we bring in our second tier of guards the other team is starting to get tired and we have fresh legs and that is when we get on the attack and a lot of times that leads to runs like it did tonight,” Hobbs said.

Keota also sparkled in the post where they posted a plus 11 rebounding advantage and were led in scoring by post players Kelsi Sieren with 20 points and Madison Sheetz with 19 points, each player also grabbed eight boards. After the contest Sieren spoke about the Keota game plan and what led to her stellar play.

“We had to execute our plays and have good defense so the other team didn’t score as much,” Sieren said. “My post moves were working well tonight, I had a lot of inside moves.”

Sigourney was led by Val Magill’s 12 points. With the win Keota is now 10-8 on the year and 9-8 in the South Iowa Cedar League. Sigourney is 4-14 overall and in league play.