Viborg-Hurley defeated Dupree 37-34 in a grind-it-out battle in the semifinals of the State B boys' basketball tournament Friday night at Wachs Arena. It was a contrast in styles as Viborg-Hurley looks to play a possession-by-possession game, while Dupree tries to play an uptempo style.
The Cougars' style won out as they will now play in the championship game at 8 p.m. tonight against White River.
"We wanted to kind of play our tempo and play our game how we wanted to play and keep our composure," Viborg-Hurley guard Jack Huether said.
It was Huether who kept his composure late as the junior nailed a pair of huge shots to lift his team to the win. The Tigers led 27-26 early in the fourth quarter when Huether banked in a jump shot to give Viborg-Hurley its first lead since the first quarter. Neither team scored again until Huether drilled a three-pointer with three minutes and 55 seconds left to give the Cougars a 31-27 lead.
"I was just wide open and I knew I could make it, so I shot it and that bank was kind of lucky," Huether admitted, "I wasn't planning on that."
The Cougars extended their lead to 32-27 with 1:34 left after Trevor Jacobsen split a pair of free throws. Dupree's Kash Deal made a three to get the Tigers within 32-30 with 1:17 left. However, the Tigers were forced to foul and the two teams exchanged baskets and free throws for the next minute. With Dupree trailing 37-34, Viborg-Hurley's Seth Andersen corralled a missed free throw by teammate Tyler Gerdes. Andersen was fouled with six seconds left. Andersen missed the free throw and the Tigers pushed the ball up the court, but Nate Widow's contested three-pointer fell short as time expired.
Huether and Jacobsen paced the Cougars with 11 points apiece. Widow scored a game-high 12 points for Dupree.
Viborg-Hurley led 9-8 after a slow moving first quarter. The Tigers then picked up the pace early in the second quarter. The game was tied at 11-11 early in the second quarter before Dupree went on a 12-5 run to close out the first half. The Tigers led 23-16 at halftime.
"They found a couple of spots in the first half," Viborg-Hurley coach Galen Schoenefeld said. "(Creighton) LeBeau knocked down a couple of three pointers, which was big for them. Widow got space a couple of times and knocked them down. It made it feel like they were hitting more from outside than what they really were. We were only down seven at that point. We felt we could play quite a bit better offensively and then just slightly better defensively, I think we did that."
The Tigers struggled offensively in the second half. Dupree made only 5-for-22 field goals in the second half and missed all of their three free throws. Dupree made only four points in the third quarter as Viborg-Hurley cut the lead to 27-25 going into the fourth quarter.
"They just took things away from us," Dupree coach Jim Hood said. "We just stood around too much, waiting for somebody else to do the job. It was disappointing. They have a good team. We just kind of let up in the second half."
Dupree (23-2) will now try to regroup as it will play South Central at 6 p.m. tonight for the third place game of the state tournament.
"They are disappointed," Hood said of his players, "but we have to go onto the next one."
The next one for Viborg-Hurley (23-2) is another shot at White River. The two teams played in last year's State B championship game with White River coming out on top. It will be the Cougars' third straight state title appearance. Viborg-Hurley finished as the State A runners-up two years ago.
"They are going to be good," Huether said about playing White River. "We are going to have to play our best to compete with them and hopefully win."
DUPREE: Trenton Pretty Weasel 0-2 0-0 0, Seth Longbrake 0-3 0-0 0, Nate Widow 4-11 2-2 12, Kash Deal 3-7 0-1 7, Jeffrie Shaving 2-7 0-2 4, Tate Widow 2-5 1-1 5, Hosteen Rave 0-0 0-0 0, Creighton LeBeau 2-10 0-0 6. Totals 13-45 3-6 34.
VIBORG-HURLEY: Tyler Gerdes 1-7 2-3 4, Jack Huether 4-6 1-2 11, Trevor Jacobsen 3-5 3-4 11, Andrew Hora 3-9 3-4 9, Seth Andersen 1-6 0-1 2, Rusten Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Bjerkaas 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 12-34 9-14 37.
Dupree (23-2) 8 23 27 34
Viborg-Hurley (23-2) 9 16 25 37
3-point field goals - Dupree 5-21 (Pretty Weasel 0-1, Longbrake 0-3, N. Widow 2-4, Deal 1-3, T. Widow 0-3, LeBeau 2-7); Viborg-Hurley 4-13 (Gerdes 0-3, Huether 2-3, Jacobsen 2-3, Hora 0-2, Andersen 0-2). Total fouls - Dupree 15; Viborg-Hurley 13. Fouled out - None. Rebounds - Dupree 27 (Shaving 7); Viborg-Hurley 31 (Andersen 10). Assists - Dupree 6 (N. Widow 3); Viborg-Hurley 6 (Andersen 3). Blocks - Dupree 1 (Shaving 1); Viborg-Hurley 1 (Hora 1). Steals - Dupree 8 (N. Widow 2, Deal 2); Viborg-Hurley 4 (Andersen 2). Turnovers - Dupree 6; Viborg-Hurley 12.