MITCHELL — Viborg-Hurley showed off its No. 1 Class B ranking on Saturday.

The top-ranked Cougars turned a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown into a 72-52 girls basketball win over Wolsey-Wessington at the Hanson Classic. The Cougars, who won last season’s Class B state championship, used a 23-9 fourth quarter to pick up the 20-point victory. 

“It kind of shows where we are probably at right now,” Viborg-Hurley coach Molly Mason said. “There’s a lot of great teams in Class B and they are all competitive. Wolsey-Wessington is probably one of the better ones and they came out and played a great game. We just caused some turnovers and took advantage of those and the momentum changed a little bit.”

The Cougars (9-1) placed three players in double figures, including 30 points and four 3-pointers by Denae Mach. Coral Mason again stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and five steals. Estelle Lee recorded 14 points. 

Viborg-Hurley drilled 7 of 26 3-point attempts and had 14 assists on 27 made field goals.   

“We all shot great,” Mach said. “We all passed the ball well. We all handled the ball well. We handled the pressure well and moving onto our next games, it’s going to help us in the long run.”

Viborg-Hurley also faced a tall task in Saturday’s contest. Wolsey-Wessington (7-1) was led by 6-foot-4 Mallory Miller, who logged 21 points and 12 rebounds. Miller finished 9 of 16 from the field and 2 of 6 from the 3-point line.  

“She’s a great player,” Molly Mason said. “I told the girls this week she’s going to get her points. She’s going to get her rebounds. We just have to do our best to stop her when we can.”

The top two teams in Class B played a seesaw first half. The score was knotted up at 15-15 after the first quarter and Viborg-Hurley led 36-30 at halftime. 

That’s when Viborg-Hurley and its speed began to wear on the Warbirds. The Cougars finished with 14 steals and forced 17 turnovers.  

“Estelle got a few in transition and Shelby (Lyons) got a few in transition,” Mach said. “Our defense leads to offense and that’s what is going to help us.” 

The Cougars led 49-43 after the third quarter and used their 23-9 final quarter surge to put away the Warbirds. 

“Usually our fourth quarter is our best quarter when we are playing,” Miller said. “But unfortunately in this game it wasn’t. It was actually our worst quarter. … It’s good to get great competition. Obviously they won state last year and No. 1 seed this year. They are definitely a good team and I hope we get the chance to play with them again.”

The Cougars will host Avon on Jan. 17. The Warbirds will play at Sunshine Bible Academy on Jan. 24.