State B Boys Basketball: Viborg-Hurley grounds Wolsey-Wessington

Viborg-Hurley locked down Wolsey-Wessington on Thursday.
 The Cougars shut down the Warbirds 48-27 in the opening round of the State B boys’ basketball tournament at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen.
 "The kids really have locked in on the things that we want to and have done a really good job for a few games in a row here," Viborg-Hurley coach Galen Schoenefeld said.
 Viborg-Hurley, which never trailed, led 37-23 after the third quarter. The Warbirds scored thirty seconds into the fourth quarter and did not score again until with 12 seconds left.
 "You have to give them credit," Wolsey-Wessington coach Gordon Hooks said. "They play good defense. They hold teams down. We knew it was going to be tough to score on them. We didn’t realize it was going to be that tough."
 The Cougars made it tough early on for the Warbirds. Viborg-Hurley bolted out to an 8-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. Jack Huether drilled a three-pointer just nine seconds into the game. Dennis DeNeui followed with a basket less than 50 seconds later and Andrew Hora nailed another triple to get the 8-0 lead.
 "Jack comes out, the one kid on our team of our starters that hasn’t been to a state tournament in basketball and he comes down and knocks down the opening three," Schoenefeld said. "That pretty much set the tone and we followed up with a couple of quick baskets after that. It set the tone for the night."
 The Warbirds finally scored when Bo Mutchelkanus made a field goal with 5:21 left in the first quarter. The Cougars led 14-5 after the first quarter and 24-14 at halftime.
 "I didn’t think our kids were nervous," Hooks said, "but we got into the game and I think the big kid (6-foot-9 Zach Kraning) intimidated us a little bit and we really didn’t take the shots that we had. That hurt us the most."
 Wolsey-Wessington’s Jalen Boomsma made a free throw at the start of the third quarter to get it down to nine points. However, the Cougars pushed the lead back to double digits and it never dipped back below 10 points the rest of the way.
 "The shots that we had we would pass on," Hooks said. "Then we would take shots that we shouldn’t have took. If we take the first good shot we get I think we are going to play a lot better."
 No player scored in double digits for the Warbirds. Hayden Hooks led Wolsey-Wessington with six points. The Warbirds will play Hanson at 2:45 p.m. today in the consolation semifinals of the tournament. Wolsey-Wessington lost to Hanson 46-39 earlier in the season.
 "We know they are tough," coach Hooks said. "They beat us down in the Mitchell Classic, but we are going to come back and we are going to play Warbird basketball."
 DeNeui scored a game-high 21 points, including two three-pointers.
 "Dennis is a five year varsity basketball player and it shows," Schoenefeld said. "He is somebody that has been solid for us all year long."
 Viborg-Hurley will play Langford at 8:45 p.m. tonight in the championship semifinals of the tournament.
 "It is going to be another tough one," Schoenefeld said. "A team that has a lot of length and can cause you some problems. You have to take care of the basketball and move it around to get good looks against them."
 WOLSEY-WESSINGTON: Hayden Hooks 2-8 1-1 6, Jalen Boomsma 1-10 3-6 5, Bo Mutchelknaus 1-4 0-0 2, Nathan Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Ryan Sprecher 2-8 0-0 4, Sawyer Langbehn 0-0 0-0 0, Lorenzo Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Roy Lumpkin 0-0 0-3 0, Austin Sheridan 2-4 0-0 5, Ryan Johnson 0-3 0-0 0, Chris Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Curtis Keefe 1-4 0-1 2, Alex Babcock 0-0 1-2 1, Brandon Bergquist 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 10-46 5-13 27.
 VIBORG-HURLEY: Dennis DeNeui 8-15 3-6 21, Jack Huether 1-6 2-2 5, Trevor Jacobsen 1-4 6-6 9, Andrew Hora 1-3 0-1 3, Zach Kraning 2-6 0-1 4, Clay Jorgensen 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Novak 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Gerdes 0-1 0-0 0, Collin Sherard 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Jensen 0-2 0-0 0, Austin Bjerkaas 0-0 0-0 0, Brayden Meyers 0-0 0-0 0, Ryne Kludt 3-4 0-1 6, Seth Andersen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-42 11-17 48.
Wolsey-Wessington (20-4)|5142327
Viborg-Hurley (22-2)|14243748
 3-point field goals -- Wolsey-Wessington 2-11 (Hooks 1-5, Johnson 0-1, Sprecher 0-2, Sheridan 1-2, Johnson 0-1); Viborg-Hurley 5-15 (DeNeui 2-4, Huether 1-3, Jacobsen 1-4, Hora 1-3, Kludt 0-1). Total fouls -- Wolsey-Wessington 18; Viborg-Hurley 13. Rebounds -- Wolsey-Wessington 32 (Sprecher 6); Viborg-Hurley 38 (Kraning 9). Turnovers -- Wolsey-Wessington 15; Viborg-Hurley 13. Assists -- Wolsey-Wessington 7 (Hooks 2, Boomsma 2); Viborg-Hurley 13 (Hora 3). Blocked Shots -- Wolsey-Wessington 2 (Sprecher 2); Viborg-Hurley 4 (Kraning 2). Steals -- Wolsey-Wessington 4 (Williams 2); Viborg-Hurley 4. Officials -- Randy Thomas, Bret Sether, Rob Fedt.