WATERTOWN — On Saturday night at the Class B state girls basketball tournament, the No. 8s had it.
Eighth-seeded Viborg-Hurley delivered a third stunner in a row with a 58-53 win over second-seeded De Smet in the Class B championship game at the Watertown Civic Arena. The Cougars took out No. 1 seed Aberdeen Roncalli on Thursday and No. 4 Corsica-Stickney in the Friday’s semifinals.
Dating back to the SoDak 16, Viborg-Hurley (22-4) was the No. 11 seed among the last 16 teams and the Cougars finished the season with an eight-game win streak to the state championship.
Denae Mach had 23 points for the Cougars, while Coral Mason had 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Estelle Lee had eight points, eight rebounds and four assists for Viborg-Hurley, which shot 38.3% for the game and 27% in the second half.
The two teams were strong offensively in the first half, tied at 36 at intermission. The Bulldogs opened the second half on an 8-0 run but V-H answered it by the end of the quarter and Mason’s two free throws as the period expired put V-H ahead 47-46. De Smet got within two points twice in the fourth quarter but five free throws from Denae Mach late in the game helped to seal the contest.
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For a third-straight night, Kennadi Buchholz had a huge night with 15 points and 21 rebounds for De Smet (24-2), which was playing for its second Class B state title in the last four seasons. Emma Albrecht had 15 points and Jada Burke had 13 points but De Smet had 21 turnovers in the game and forced just nine giveaways from Viborg-Hurley.
Class B special awards
Spirit of Six: Aberdeen Roncalli
Spirit of Su: Kennadi Buchholz, De Smet.
All-tournament team: Coral Mason and Denae Mach, of Viborg-Hurley; Jada Burke and Kennadi Buchholz, of De Smet; Kaycee Groves, of Faith; Rachel Gerlach and Avery Broughton, of Corsica-Stickney; Madelyn Bragg and Morgan Fiedler, of Aberdeen Roncalli; Joy Rohrbach, of Aberdeen Christian; Maleighya Estes, of White River; Paige Kjerstad, of Wall.
