Bailey Zubke

Clarice Thyen is no stranger to state basketball tournaments, but this year’s 2022 Class ‘B’ State Tournament means a little bit more.

The eighth-seeded Viborg-Hurley Cougars defeated second-seeded De Smet 58-53 Saturday night at the Watertown Civic Arena to claim its first co-op State Girls Basketball Championship.

The eighth-seeded Viborg-Hurley Cougars brought in a group of eighth grade boys from their school district to help them prepare for the taller Aberdeen Roncalli Cavaliers, the top-seed in the Class B Girl’s Basketball Tournament, and it paid off.

Three schools, a buzzer-beater in the state tournament and now, 2,000 career points highlights White River’s Maleighya Estes high school resume.

In his first year as a head coach at Hanson, Jim Bridge and his team won four games. The second year, Hanson won five games. In the 2021-22 season, his Hanson girls basketball squad has 15 wins (15-4 record overall) and win number 14 of the season was also Bridge’s 600th career win.