Edmunds County Tribune -

One down, one to go! The Class B girls' high school basketball tourney is now history and what a tournament it proved to be. One for the ages maybe?

When it was all said and done, eighth-seeded giant killer Viborg-Hurley waded through three higher-rated teams to claim its crown. Defense certainly played a role, especially in their second win. (They had up-ended top-seeded Aberdeen Roncalli 69-58 on the first day of the event in Watertown.) And they trimmed fourth-seeded high-scoring Corsica- Stickney's sails 43-38 the second night to secure a berth in the championship tilt against De Smet, which had outlasted Faith in two overtimes the night before (52-50).

But De Smet, the second-seeded team, couldn't quite produce that final-quarter magic that it had against the Faith Longhorns in facing Viborg-Hurley and would thus sustain a 58-53 two-possession championship defeat. Faith would then lose its third-place bid to Corsica-Stickney 75-50.

Meanwhile, the consolation bracket would find Aberdeen Roncalli regrouping for a 44-34 consolation championship victory in what some were calling the Hub City Bowl. Why? That's because the Cavalier girls outlasted the Aberdeen Christian Knights in the fifth-place game. The Knights had entered the tourney as the number-seven seed and had lost their opener 52-44 to De Smet in the evening bracket. But they were able hang on for a 64-60 win over Wall in their consolation semifinal action. And the Roncalli contingent had topped White River 59-44 in their own consolation semifinal bracket. So the Tigers from White River who were the defending State B champions, had to settle for edging Wall 54-52 for seventh-place in this year's go-around. And Roncalli's 2021 State A champions would find the Class B sledding just a little more difficult than they maybe hadn't quite expected.

St. Thomas More would become the 2022 Class A champion in a tourney hosted in Brookings. And this year's AA crown would be worn by Sioux Falls O'Gorman over Rapid City Stevens in Rapid City in their championship confrontation.

Now for the State B boys' preview! This event will again be hosted in Aberdeen on March 17-19 and the eight opening-day contenders could certainly use a little bit of that luck of the Irish in all their St. Patrick's Day drama.

De Smet is the top-seeded team in this event with only one loss and will face eighth-seeded Waubay/ Summit, an area team that brings a 20-3 record into their Thursday opener. Next will be two more area teams locking horns in that 4 vs. 5 tilt that nearly always seems to be closely contested. And Region 2B's Potter County is indeed the fourth-seeded team at 22-1 and will face Aberdeen Christian out of Region 1 with a 20-3 mark.

Meanwhile, the evening bracket could be up for grabs. Second-seeded Lower Brule, 20-3, will take on Castlewood the seventh seed at 17-6. And third-seeded White River, 19-2, will face Freeman Academy/Marion, the sixth-seed, with a 21-2 season record.

So if you haven't noticed, our two Region 2B SoDak 16 participants both qualified for the state event. And the same could be said for Region 1B from our neck of the woods.

In case you are interested, the boys' State A will be played in Rapid City and the AA event is set for Sioux Falls.