The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals couldn’t quite overcome an early first quarter deficit against the Elkton-Lake Benton Elks on Friday, February 9th. St Mary fell 64-54 to the Elks at Dell Rapids St Mary High School.
The Elks got an early 11-2 lead halfway through the first quarter. Their lead grew to 13 points by the end of the first quarter at 20-7. The Cardinals were able to cut the lead to nine points by halftime at 32-23. The Elks again pushed their lead to 13 points at 44-31 with 2:30 to go in the third quarter. That is when St Mary went on a run. St Mary finished the third quarter on a 9-3 run to cut the Elkton-Lake Benton lead to seven points at 47-40. Ella Heinitz made a three-point shot from the right wing to start the fourth quarter to bring the Cardinals to within four points at 47-43. That was as close as the Cardinals would get. The Elks went on a 13-6 run to extend their lead to 60-49 with 1:45 left in the game and finished with the 1o-point victory.
The Cardinals finished shooting 37% from the field, 33% from three-point area, and 76% from the free-throw line. Heinitz finished with 19 points in the game. Maddie Schwebach had 16 points and four rebounds. Sydney Cook added 10 points and nine rebounds. Clare Klein finished tallied six points and three rebounds.
St Mary (8-10) will travel to Colman to play the Colman-Egan Hawks on Tuesday, February 13th.