By Rich Winter

605 Sports

Region 7B proved to be better than expected this year as two teams, White River and Wall, qualified for the Class B state girls basketball tournament. 

Right behind them, Jones County (16-6) had a heck of a season. Their season came to an end on Feb. 24 with a 54-42 road loss to White River in the Region 7B semifinals. 

Nine days earlier (Feb. 15) Jones County handed that same White River team a loss, 68-57, in a game played at home in Murdo.

“It was really motivating for us to beat White River,” junior guard Jadyn Jensen said. “That showed us we have the potential to make it to state and that’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

Jensen and fellow junior Mallory Valburg have been fixtures in the Jones County lineups since their seventh-grade seasons. Jensen averaged 14 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.4 apg and 2.7 spg this year. Valburg, a 6-foot post player, led the Coyotes this season with 16.4 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 2.7 apg and 3.7 spg. 

In the Feb. 15 matchup against White River, Valburg notched a school-record 39 points (old record Madison Mathews, 36). Entering her senior season, Valburg already holds the Coyotes school record for career steals. 

Jones County junior Mallory Valburg holds the school record for steals in a career and points in a game (39).

Valburg also holds the career blocked shot record and set the season and game records for rebounds this year

“This year I was a lot more confident in the post,” Valburg said. “People were really trying to lock Jadyn down on defense and I feel like that gave me more opportunities.” 

The road to relevance hasn’t come easy for Jones County.

During their eighth-grade season, the Coyotes finished 1-19. A year later that mark was upped to 8-12. Prior to their 16-win season in 2021-22, the tandem was part of a 14-7 season their sophomore years. 

The early losing motivates both girls to keep on improving. 

“For us to win one game our eighth-grade year it is a lot more fun to be on the winning side,” Jensen said. 

In the small town of Murdo basketball is king during the winter months and Valburg sees the fans starting to come out to support a winning product. 

“It is fun for the community and exciting to see the little kids come up and talk to us,” she said. “Winning has definitely drawn out more fans and that is fun and exciting for our community.” 

Jones County will be losing two players to graduation (Taylor Feddersen and Alexis Moran). However their top-five scorers this season were all juniors. In addition to Valburg and Jensen, Julie Dugan (5.8 ppg/4.2 rpg), Emma Hunt (4.5 ppg/2 apg) and Peyton Rankin (4.1 ppg/1.8 apg) were also key contributors. 

A coaching change this year drew Jones County even closer. Scott Matthews, Dugan’s dad, took over as head coach. Valburg’s father, Barry, was his assistant coach this season. 

“They threw a lot of stuff at us and I think we were in a little better shape,” Valburg said. “Honestly they built a whole new offense. We kept the same defense and refined it and made it a lot stronger.” 

Jensen and Valburg are both multi-sport athletes. Last fall both girls participated in cross country and volleyball. This spring both are participating in track.

Jensen and Valburg are No. 1 and No. 2 in their class with an average GPA of 3.99.