Orange City Iowa — Sheldon claimed the 2A boys District 3 basketball title Tuesday night at the Unity Christian Gym with a 59-55 win over Sioux Center. It was the third meeting of the season between the two teams with each winning a Siouxland Conference game on their home floor earlier this year. With the win Sheldon will play for a State Tournament berth on Saturday when they meet Alta Aurelia who won the District 4 title with a 74-73 win over Pocahontas Area in Storm Lake Tuesday night.
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Like the previous two meetings the District Championship was close from beginning to end. The Orabs were up 17-15 at the end of the first quarter and were up by three at the half 27-24. The game stayed close in the second half with the Orabs still up by two at 36-34 by the end of the third quarter. Sheldon nailed down the win at the free throw line in the fourth quarter. The Orabs went 12-of-16 from the stripe.
Jaden Kleinhesslink opened the first quarter with a trio of 3’s to jump start the offense. He finished with a team high 15. Tyler Merley hit a trio of 3’s in the game and went 3-of-4 from the line in the fourth quarter as he finished with 12 points. Kyle Boerhave and Tyler Johnson had 8 points each. Johnson went 3-of-4 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter with Boerhave hitting 4-of-4 from the stripe to make it a two possession game late in the contest.
Sioux Center had three players in double figures getting a game high 19 from Cade Bleeker, 12 from Tyus Arends and 10 from Tyler Van Beek.
With the win Sheldon improves to 20-3 on the year. Sioux Center ends the season at 18-5 as the SIouxland Conference Champions. The Orabs are on to Substate Saturday night in Spirit Lake against Alta Aurelia with a State Tournament berth up for grabs.
