The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls and boys basketball teams played a double-header in De Smet against the Bulldogs on Monday, December 21st. The girls team took home a 48-34 win. The boys team suffered their first loss of the season, 33-69.
The Cardinal girls needed a quarter to get going, but once they did, they locked down the Bulldogs. De Smet held a nine-point lead in the first quarter and led 16-7 heading into the second quarter. That’s when the St Mary Cardinal defense took control. The Cardinals held De Smet to just two points in the second quarter, while the offense scored 19, and St Mary led 28-18 at halftime.
St Mary’s defense continued to give De Smet problems in the second half. The Cardinals outscored the Bulldogs 10-6 in the third quarter, and then built a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter for their third win of the season.
Ella Heinitz had 20 points, four rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Courntey Brown had seven points and three steals. Ella Griffin finished with six points and three rebounds. Sydney Klein and Addyson Gilbert both had four points each.
The St Mary boys team ran into a hot-shooting De Smet team on a night where the shots were not falling for themselves. The Cardinals got down big in the first quarter and were not able to recover. De Smet outscored St Mary in every quarter. The Bulldogs led 28-9 after the first quarter, and the lead grew to 47-17 by halftime. The Bulldogs then outscored St Mary 22-16 in the second half.
The shooting percentages between the two teams tells the story of the game. The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 60% (28-47) from the field, 56% (10-18) from three-point area, and 50% (3-6) from the free-throw line. The Cardinals, however, shot just 23% (10-44) from the field, 20% (3-15) from three-point area, and 77% (10-13) from the free-throw line.
Connor Libis had 10 points, three rebounds, and two steals in the game. Sam Palmer finished with eight points. Ashaun Roach-Valandra had five points, three rebounds, and two assists. John Pica and Max Herber both had four points each. Herber also had seven rebounds.
Both of the Cardinal teams will be in Chester on Monday, December 28th, for a double-header with the Flyers.