No. 8 to No. 1: Viborg-Hurley girls down De Smet for state Class B title
WATERTOWN -- It wasn’t a fluke.
Eighth-seeded Viborg-Hurley knocked off top-rated Aberdeen Roncalli in the first game of the state Class B girls basketball tournament on Thursday and closed the three-day event with a 58-53 win over No. 2 De Smet in the title game.
The Cougars (22-4) overcame an eight-point deficit in the third quarter to storm to the first state title in the history of the co-op that began in 2011.
“We really prepared hard for Aberdeen Roncalli, and we knew if we could beat them, we could beat anyone in the state,” said Denae Mach, a 5-foot-9 senior who led Viborg-Hurley with a 23-point outburst in the championship. “We’re a great team and we knew we had to take care of business after that.”
As was the case throughout the tournament, the Cougars received contributions from a number of players. Coral Mason added 19 points and nine rebounds, Estelle Lee eight points and eight rebounds and Shelby Lyons seven points.
Kennadi Buchholz and Emma Albrecht each tallied 15 points and Jada Burke 13 for De Smet (24-2), which had a 14-game winning streak halted. Buchholz also grabbed 21 rebounds.
Viborg-Hurley shot 38% (23 of 60) from the field and snared 33 rebounds. De Smet finished at 35% (18 of 51) with 36 rebounds.
The Bulldogs committed 21 turnovers compared to nine for the Cougars.
A back and forth battle
True fans like to see championship games with evenly matched squads trading baskets throughout the game, and that was definitely the case in this one.
What was a little surprising was the offensive outburst in a tournament that featured some scoring struggles.
It didn’t hurt that De Smet, which went zero for 17 from three-point range in a double-overtime semifinal win over Faith on Friday, spoiled Viborg-Hurley’s defensive plans early by canning six three-pointers in the first 10 minutes. Four were by Albrecht, a junior guard.
“We had planned to just pack it in (against Buchholz),” said Mach. “After the start, we knew we couldn’t let them shoot threes all game because that was just crazy.”
De Smet led 20-19 after the explosive first quarter and used Albrecht’s two free throws with 2.4 seconds left to pull even at 36 at halftime.
Buchholz, limited to three points in the first half, scored six points to fuel an 8-0 run to start the second half for the Bulldogs.
Viborg-Hurley answered with a 15-3 run to take the lead as time started to get short.
Mach sank two free throws with 17.2 seconds remaining in the game, and her senior sister Delana made another with three seconds left to close out the win.
“Our motto this year is to keep fighting no matter what,” Denae Mach said. “There was one game where we were down 19 and still came back and won. That just shows we’re fighters, and we’re going to fight to the end.”
Where did this come from?
It isn’t often that the No. 8 team in a state tournament runs the table, but it has happened before. The Cougars sent notice on Thursday and never let up.
“We lost to a really good Viborg-Hurley team,” said De Smet head coach Brendon Pitts. “They came in as the No. 8, but like I said from the start, seeds don’t matter in the SoDak 16 or in the state tournament.”
This is the third trip to state for the Viborg-Hurley co-op. The Cougars took fifth in 2015 and finished seventh a year ago.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Denae Mach. “I dreamed of it in the second grade when Molly (current Viborg-Hurley head coach Molly Mason) coached us, but now it just feels like I’m on cloud nine. It still hasn’t sunk in.”
Four junior starters are eligible to return next winter for Viborg-Hurley, which likely won’t get the chance to be carry the underdog label anymore.
“I’m tired of teams overlooking us,” said Mach. “This is a statement for Viborg-Hurley.”
A great season for De Smet
The tournament is a three-day grind for every team, but that might have been even more of a factor for De Smet.
The Bulldogs get after it on the defensive end and play physically. And they certainly had to work extra hard to get past Faith on Friday.
“After our game last night and having to play two overtimes, the girls did the best they could,” said Pitts. “We gave it our best effort and finished second in state. We finished ahead of a lot of other teams.”
Buchholz, the school’s all-time leader in career points and a five-year varsity player, and fellow starter Camryn Schmidt are the two seniors for the Bulldogs.
“They were good seniors who led the team all year long. We’ll definitely miss them next year.”
Tournament Awards
Buchholz earned the Spirit of Su Award, and Aberdeen Roncalli’s cheerleaders received the Spirt of Six Award.
Members of the South Dakota Basketball Coaches Association’s all-tourney team include Denae Mach and Mason of Viborg-Hurley, Burke and Buchholz of De Smet, Avery Broughton and Rachel Gerlach of Corsica-Stickney, Kaycee Groves of Faith, Madelyn Bragg and Morgan Fiedler of Aberdeen Roncalli, Joy Rohrbach of Aberdeen Christian, Maleighya Estes of White River and Paige Kjerstad of Wall.
Third place
Corsica-Stickney 75, Faith 50: Gerlach's 23 points powered fourth-seeded Corsica-Stickney (22-4) to the win in the third-place game. Payton DeLange added 15, Morgan Clites 12 and Broughton 11. Broughton also hauled in 11 rebounds.
Groves notched 16 points and eight rebounds and Cassidy Schuelke and TyAnn Mortenson 11 points apiece for Faith (19-7).
Fifth place
Aberdeen Roncalli 44, Aberdeen Christian 34: Top-seeded Roncalli (24-2) bounced back from a first-round upset to claim the consolation championship with the win over cross-town rival Christian, getting 16 points from Fiedler and 10 each from Bragg and Olivia Hanson. Jeci Ewart and Bragg each had eight rebounds.
Grace Kaiser and Joy Rohrbach each tallied 11 points and Hanna Miller eight rebounds for Christian (21-5).
Seventh place
White River 54, Wall 52: White River won the seventh-place game on Lilly Krogman’s field goal in the closing seconds.
Estes scored 27 points for the Tigers (19-5), and finished her career with 2,214 points, good for 17th all-time in state history. Karlie Cameron added 11.
Wall (21-5) got 18 points fromKjerstad, 14 from Nora Dinger and 13 from Ava Dinger.
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: No. 8 to No. 1: Viborg-Hurley girls down De Smet for state Class B title
