The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals pushed the Colman-Egan Hawks to the limits in the second round of the Region 4B tournament on Tuesday, February 25th, but the Hawks ultimately won the game 42-32 to advance to the next round.
The Hawks got rolling on offense first scoring the first nine points of the game. The Cardinals were held without a point until the 2:40 mark of the first quarter. St Mary then held Colman-Egan to just two more points the rest of the quarter while cutting the lead to 11-7. The Cardinals pulled within two points at 13-11. The Hawks scored the next five points, but St Mary cut the lead again to 18-14 by halftime.
St Mary scored the first two points of the third quarter to again cut the lead to two points at 18-16. Colman-Egan responded with another five-point run to push the lead to 23-16. The Cardinals answered right back getting within two points again at 23-21 with 3:00 to go in the third quarter. The Hawks closed out the final three minutes on a 7-1 run for a 30-22 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Colman-Egan was able to keep a six-to-eight point lead in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. St Mary was able to cut the lead down to five points after a made three-point basket and the score remained 36-31 with :30 to play. The Hawks made six free throws in the final seconds to secure the victory.
Neither team shot the ball particularly well in the game. St Mary finished the game shooting 21% (9-44) from the field, 24% (5-21) from three-point area, and 50% (9-18) from the free-throw line. Colman-Egan finished the game shooting 26% (13-51) from the field, 13% (2-16) from three-point area, and 67% (14-21) from the free-throw line. Each team also had 22 turnovers in the game.
St Mary was led by Ella Griffin with eight points, five rebounds, and two steals. Courtney Brown had seven points and four rebounds. Ella Heinitz and Addy Gilbert both had five points each. Colman-Egan was led by Mackenzie Hemmer with 21 points and nine rebounds. Braiden Westley had 13 points and seven rebounds.
The Cardinals finish their 2019-2020 season with a 10-11 record.