State B: No. 2 Ethan nips Castlewood in OT; defending champ Viborg-Hurley wins
HURON — Second-seeded Ethan outlasted Castlewood in the game of the day and defending champion Viborg-Hurley in the first round of the state Class B girls basketball tournament on Thursday in the Huron Arena.
Ethan prevailed 55-53 in overtime and third-seeded Viborg-Hurley followed with a 64-46 win over Howard in evening games. The day opened with No. 1 seed Wolsey-Wessington beating Jones County 53-42 and fifth-seeded Wall downed No. 4 Sully Buttes 58-50.
Jones County faces Sully Buttes at noon and Castlewood takes on Howard at 1:45 p.m. in consolation semifinals on Friday. The semifinals open at 6 p.m. with Wolsey-Wessington facing Wall, followed by Ethan and Viborg Hurley.
No. 2 Ethan 55, No. 7 Castlewood 53
This game featured a number of twists and turns. Castlewood led 14-11 after one quarter before Ethan rebounded with a 24-11 surge in the second quarter to lead 35-25. Ethan made nine 3-pointers in the half.
The Rustlers then went cold and didn't score for the first six minutes of the second half. Still after five more 3s, they led 47-32 early in the fourth quarter.
Castlewood followed with its own flurry of 3's and even took the lead (51-50) on Presley Knecht's 3-pointer with under a minute remaining. Ethan's Ava Lingemann was fouled with 7.9 seconds and made one of two free throws to send the game into overtime.
Junior reserve Leah Klock came up big for Ethan (21-2) by grabbing an offensive rebound with 12.5 seconds left. Later she took a pass from teammate Madeline Bartscher and converted the game-winning shot with 6.6 seconds remaining.
Bartscher scored 19 points and Lingemann and Marissa Storm each 15 for Ethan, which shot 39 percent (20 of 52) from the field and used Ella Pollreisz's 10 rebounds to win the board battle 33-18. Lingemann contributed seven assists.
Maddie Horn finished with 21 points, Mackenzie Everson 11 and Knecht eight for Castlewood (16-8), which shot 51 percent (21 of 41) from the field.
No. 3 Viborg-Hurley 64, No. 6 Howard 46
The Cougars (21-3) continued their quest for a second-straight championship by getting 25 points from Denae Mach and 19 points and six assists from Estelle Lee. Coral Mason contributed nine points and 13 rebounds.
Viborg-Hurley shot 41 percent (22 of 54) from the field and grabbed 26 rebounds.
Abby Aslesen's 17-point, 11-rebound performance topped Howard (19-5), which also got 13 points from Trinity Palmquist and eight points and eight rebounds from Kate Connor.
The Tigers made 14 of 50 field-goal attempts for 28 percent and hauled in 34 rebounds.
No. 1 Wolsey-Wessington 53, No. 8 Jones County 42
The Warbirds (22-2) defeated Jones County for the second time this season with the help of 14 points and four assists from Leah Williams, 14 points from Mya Boomsma and eight points and nine rebounds from Mallory Miller.
Wolsey-Wessington converted 18 of 41 field-goal attempt for 44 percent and limited Jones County to 17-of-64 shooting for 27 percent. The Warbirds also won the board battle 37-28.
Mallory Valburg collected 14 points and 14 rebounds for Jones County (18-5). Jolie Dugan added eight points.
No. 5 Wall 58, No. 4 Sully Buttes 50
Paige Kjerstad scored 25 points, Nora Dinger 17 and Rhea Tuckers nine to go along with 10 rebounds in the victory for Wall (19-5).
The Eagles made 20 of 53 field-goal attempts for 44 percent and also converted 17 of 22 free throws.
Sully Buttes (20-4) was led by Lydia Hill's 18 points and 10 rebounds. Stevie Wittler chipped in with 13 points and five assists and Addison Chicoine 12 points.
The Chargers shot 39 percent (21 of 54) from the field and won the rebounding battle 35-28. They were hampered by 18 turnovers.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports.
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Wolsey-Wessington and Wall also record first-round wins in tourney.
