The Dell Rapids Quarriers snapped a three game losing streak to the Sioux Valley Cossacks on Saturday, December 29th at the 25th Annual Michael J. Entringer Scholarship Classic in Brookings. Dell Rapids hadn’t beaten Sioux Valley since 2014, but this year the Quarriers defeated Sioux Valley 72-60.
Sioux Valley raced out to a 7-1 lead early in the first quarter. They held a four-to-six point lead for much of the quarter. The Cossacks led 16-10, but Logan Heim made a three-point shot with just seconds remaining to cut the lead to 16-13 at the end of the first quarter. The Cossacks grew the lead to eight points, their largest of the game, just a minuted into the second quarter. The lead was five points at 32-27 with 1:10 to go in the quarter, but Drew Van Regenmorter made a three-point shot moments later to cut the lead to 32-30. Max Nielson made two free throws with :15 to play, but Connor Rentz got a layup to fall in the final seconds to make the halftime score 34-32 in favor of Sioux Valley.
The third quarter proved to be the turning point in the game for Dell Rapids. Van Regenmorter made a layup with 6:23 to play in the third quarter to give Dell Rapids a 39-38 lead. The Quarriers would go on to outscore Sioux Valley 18-7 in the quarter for a 50-41 lead heading into the final quarter. The Quarriers were able to maintain a double digit lead for most of the quarter and eventually led by 15 points with under a minute to play in the game for the come-from-behind victory.
The Quarriers finished the game shooting 54% (30-56) from the field, 21% (3-14) from three-point area, and 38% (9-24) from the free-throw line in the game. Dell Rapids also had a total of 46 team rebounds, 16 assists, and turned the ball over 14 times. Sioux Valley finished the game shooting 30% (22-74) from the field, 14% (6-42) from three-point area, and 77% (10-13) from the free-throw line.
Van Regenmorter was named the game’s MVP as he finished with 15 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Heim also had a double-double with 11 points and 19 rebounds. Logan Ellingson led the team in scoring with 22 points. Connor Rentz also finished in double figures with 11 points, while Colin Rentz added nine points and four assists. Sioux Valley was led by Nielson with 26 points.
Dell Rapids (2-2) will host Chamberlain on Friday, January 4th. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.