The Dell Rapids Quarrier girls hung on for a 57-56 win over the Madison Bulldogs in the Region 3A Championship game to advance to the State A Tournament. Dell Rapids held an early 7-6 lead with 3:10 to go in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs finished the quarter on a 9-5 run to take a 15-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Quarriers trailed 18-12 early in the second quarter before holding Madison to just six more points while regaining the lead. Dell Rapids held a 31-24 lead at halftime.
Madison put together a rally in the third quarter, cutting the Dell Rapids lead to 39-38 with :30 to go, but Emma Paul hit a shot with :04 on the clock to push the Dell Rapids lead to 41-38 at the end of the third quarter. Dell Rapids led by nine points at 54-45 with 1:15 to go in the game, but Madison knocked down two three-pointers to pull within three points at 54-51. Mikaela Stofferahn hit two free-throws with :41 to go to make it a two possession game at 56-51. Stofferahn was again fouled after a Madison turnover with :25.6 left in the game. She made one of two free-throws to give Dell Rapids a six point lead at 57-51. The Bulldogs made a quick two-point shot with :18.1 remaining. Dell Rapids turned the ball over with :08.5 to go, and Roz VandenBosch made a three-pointer with :01 to go. However, Dell Rapids did not have to inbound the ball, and the Quarriers hung on to win and advance to the state tournament.
The Quarriers finished the game shooting 46% (17-37) from the field and 67% (16-24) from the free-throw line. Madison was 43% (21-49) from the field and 75% (6-8) from the free-throw line. Dell Rapids finished with just six turnovers in the game.
Head coach Jeff Dvorak said, “That is exactly what a Region game should be-wow! Madison has all the pieces, and they played hard and hit big shots, so it was a daunting task to hold them off and get the win. I felt our girls really showed amazing poise and toughness. I wasn’t sure that we were ready for a ‘big game’ such as this, but tonight we proved we were.”
Stofferahn had 16 points and four assists. Brittney Siemonsma had 10 points and three assists. Arial Hoffman finished with 10 points and two steals. Averi Pankonen and Paul each added nine points apiece in the game.
The Quarriers improve to 13-9 on the year. Dell Rapids will enter the State A Tournament as the #7 seed and will have a re-match with Mt Vernon/Plankinton in the first round on Thurdsay, March 12th, at 6:00 p.m. The State A Tournament is being played at the Watertown Civic Arena.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Dell Rapids | 12 | 19 | 10 | 16 | 57 |
| Madison | 15 | 9 | 14 | 18 | 56 |
