Quincy Thu and Jamison Keszler came off the bench all season long for Castlewood.

But with the game on the line, it was those bench players that came up with the three biggest plays down the stretch.

And boy did that bench come up big.

Inserted into the starting lineup for the final two games of the tournament due to an injury, Thu drained the two loudest threes of his season, then hawked a full-length baseball pass on target to Keszler, who finished in stride to seal Castlewood’s 46-41 victory over Viborg-Hurley Saturday afternoon in the fifth place game at the Class B Boys’ State Basketball Tournament at Wachs Arena.

“Quincy and ‘Jame’ were both huge for us,” said Castlewood coach Paul Raasch. “They’ve been our sixth and seventh guys most of the year. … Both those guys came up big for us in this tournament. They don’t get a lot of recognition during the year, but boy, they’re key parts to our team. We trust both of them.”

Thu, who hadn’t scored all game long, hit his first three with 2:40 to go to put the Warriors up by four. His second three came with a little over a minute to play and put the Warriors up for good.

“When we needed it most, he was ready to go,” Raasch said. “He was there, and boy he drained that one.”

Thu knew it, too.

“Right off the release,” Thu said, “ I knew it was going in. It felt so good.”

After a Viborg-Hurley miss at the other end, Thu was then tasked with another key point: the inbounds pass. Castlewood drew all the Cougar defenders into the back court, and Thu rifled a pass to Keszler, who finished at the other end, essentially sealing the victory.

“The catch and finish is tough, too. That’s not easy when you’re in the open court and you’ve got to make that layup to seal the game,” Raasch said. “Jame did a nice job and got himself gathered and finished it well.”

That margin, however slim, was all Castlewood needed to claim victory after a back-and-forth, physical contest that saw a grand total of seven free throws.

“The matchups for both teams weren’t real great,” Raasch said. “We’re a little smaller and quicker than they are, they’re a little more big and physical. We made a run at the end that we needed to and it worked out pretty good.”

For its part, Viborg-Hurley put together a strong game plan that included badgering Castlewood center Laue into just eight shots and four points in the game.

But the Cougars couldn’t get much of a perimeter game going, converting on just 3-of-18 shots from 3-point range.

“Some of those shots that we were making the first two nights unfortunately weren’t going down for us today,” said Viborg-Hurley coach Galen Schoenefeld. “Unfortunately for us, they knocked down a couple big shots there at the end.”

Nick Hanson and Gage Goettertz finished with 10 points apiece, but neither of them connected from distance. Bryson Morrison and Brady Schroedermeier each had big threes for the Cougars.

“It’s been an extremely physical tournament,” Schoenefeld said. “Our guys have been in the weight room all year, even our freshman, but still, it’s a challenge over three days.”

The Cougars finished the year at 21-5.

“Coming into the season, I don’t think we were on anyone’s radar to get here except maybe our own,” Schoenefeld said. “So to come in here and finish with the way that we fought in all three games, I’m extremely proud of that.”

Viborg-Hurley’s physicality did not go unnoticed by the Warriors, though.

“Watching them in this tournament, they played extremely well,” Raasch said. “They had De Smet on the ropes in round one and looked really good (Friday). We knew we’d have to play extremely well defensively to have a chance.”

Lane Tvedt had 15 points for Castlewood, most of it coming late in the game. Keszler finished with a dozen. Thu and senior Joe Decker had six each.

“It feels good,” Thu said of the win. “Last year we were on the opposite side of this, so I know how it feels. It feels a lot better being on this side.”

VIBORG-HURLEY (21-5): Brady Schroedermeier 3 0-0 7, Gage Goettertz 5 0-0 10, Kobee Sherman 1 0-0 3, Nick Hanson 4 2-2 10, Bryson Morrison 3 0-0 7, Devin Sayler 1 0-0 2, Rafe Goettertz 1 0-0 2. Totals 18-48 2-2 41.

CASTLEWOOD (20-6): Lane Tvedt 6 1-2 15, Quincy Thu 2 0-0 6, Booker Schooley 1 0-0 3, Joe Decker 2 0-0 6, Bryon Laue 2 0-0 4, Jamison Keszler 5 1-2 12. Totals 18-52 2-5 46.

Viborg-Hurley 10 21 34 41

Castlewood 14 23 32 46

3-pt field goals – Viborg-Hurley 3-18 (Schroedermeier, Sherman, Morrison); Castlewood 8-23 (Tvedt 2, Thu 2, Schooley, Decker 2, Keszler). Total fouls – Viborg-Hurley 10; Castlewood 5. Rebounds – Viborg-Hurley 36 (Hanson 8, Sherman 6, Schroedermeier 5, Goettertz 5); Castlewood 29 (Laue 10, Thu 7). Assists – Viborg-Hurley 9 (Goettertz 2, Hanson 2, Morrison 2, Sayler 2); Castlewood 11 (Tvedt 4, Thu 3). Turnovers – Viborg-Hurley 15; Castlewood 11. Blocks – Viborg-Hurley 9 (Hanson 6, Schroedermeier 3); Castlewood 1 (Laue). Steals – Viborg-Hurley 5 (Schroedermeier 3); Castlewood 8 (Tvedt 4).