No. 1 Viborg-Hurley vs. No. 1 Hamlin 

Class B No. 1 Viborg-Hurley vs. Class A No 1 Hamlin is the finale at Friday’s DWU/Culver’s Classic in Mitchell. 

For Viborg-Hurley, it’s another top-notch Class A foe on its schedule within a week. The Cougars (15-2) lost to Class A No. 3 Wagner on Feb. 4, their first defeat against a South Dakota team this season. The Cougars return a host of key returners from last season’s Class B state championship team, including Coral Mason, Denae Mach, Estelle Lee and Shelby Lyons.

Hamlin (16-0) is the last undefeated girls basketball team in the state. The Chargers are also coming off a big matchup from Feb. 4. At the Dak-12/NEC Clash, Hamlin pulled away from Class A No. 2 Vermillion, 51-34. The Chargers are paced by senior forward Kami Wadsworth, along with Addison Neuendorf, Brooklyn Brandriet, Ally Abraham and Marissa Bawdon.  

Jones County travels east for pair of classics

Jones County will play in the DWU/Culver’s Classic and Warner Classic on Feb. 10-11, respectively. 

At the two events, the Coyotes will be tested against a pair of state tournament contenders in Howard (14-3) and No. 2 Wolsey-Wessington (14-2). 

Jones County is led by senior Jadyn Jensen, the school’s career all-time leading scorer, and forward Mallory Valburg. The Coyotes have dropped games against Wall (48-45) and Sully Buttes (47-44) this season. 

Howard is paced by a pair of forwards in senior Kate Connor and junior Abby Aslesen, who regularly lead the team in scoring each game. 

Wolsey-Wessington is 14-2 with losses against Class B No. 1 Viborg-Hurley (72-52) and Class A Lakota Tech. The Warbirds are headlined by 6-foot-4 senior Mallory Miller, who is receiving scholarship offers from major Division I programs, along with seniors Leah Williams and Mya Boomsma. 

No. 4 Red Cloud at Rapid City Christian 

Red Cloud faces its second Rapid City foe in as many games on Friday.

The Class No. 4 Crusaders (15-1) lost their first game of the season on Feb. 6, a 56-46 setback at Class A No. 5 St. Thomas More. They’ll head back to Rapid City to face the Comets (13-3) in another key Class A contest. 

The Crusaders and Comets are No. 7 and No. 9, respectively, in the latest Class A seed points standings. 

Red Cloud is paced by a trio of scorers in Ashlan Blount (14.8 ppg), Lolo Carlow (12.3 ppg) and Maikole Carlow (9.4 ppg). 

The Comets counter with senior all-stater Olivia Kieffer, a University of South Dakota signee. Kieffer is averaging 27.5 points per game and is currently the 15th all-time leading scorer in girls basketball history with 2,259 career points.