Howard Girls To State For First Time In 25 Years!

The Howard Girls Basketball team has used defense as their calling card over the past month and it paid dividends Thursday night in SoDak 16 action, defeating Viborg-Hurley 38-34 in overtime. It was the tenth straight win for the Tigers, who have only allowed two teams to score over 40 points during the stretch. It ends a 25 year State Tournament drought for the Howard Girls.

Howard dominated the first half as they led 18-7 at the break, holding the Cougars to 1/25 shooting from the floor. V-H came out and outscored Howard 17-10 in the third to pull within four heading to the final frame in regulation. The Cougars would outscore Howard by four in the fourth quarter, even leading by one before the two sides went into overtime. Viborg-Hurley tied the game late in regulation at 33’s on a pair of free throws. It was all Tigers in the extra frame, outscoring the Cougars 5-1 to punch their ticket to the State B. Hilary Albrecht picked up a double-double, 18 points and 13 rebounds, in a game where offense was at a premium. 

The Girls State B Tournament will be next weekend in Spearfish, with all SoDak 16 games being held Thursday night, here is a look at the quarterfinal pairings.

#1 Corsica-Stickney (23-0) vs. #8 Irene-Wakonda (17-6)

#4 Faulkton Area (20-3) vs. #5 Howard (20-3)

#2 Ethan (22-1) vs. #7 Castlewood (17-5) 

#3 Faith (21-2) vs. #6 De Smet (19-4)