The battle for the Dak-12 Conference Classic championship between the Dell Rapids Quarriers and Sioux Falls Christian Chargers lived up to the hype. The two top ranked teams in Class A (SFC #1, and DR #2) clashed in Madison in the final game of the Dak-12 Conference Classic on Saturday, February 6th.
The game was tied after the first quarter at 12-12. The Chargers were able to push ahead for a small three-point lead at halftime at 24-21. Dell Rapids was able to cut the lead to one heading into the fourth quarter at 37-36…setting everyone up for another fantastic finish.
Sheldon Siemonsma scored the quarter’s first points on a three-point shot to give Dell Rapids a 39-37 lead with 6:56 to go. Ty Hoglund added to the lead after knocking down a shot just inside the three-point line a minute later to push the Quarrier lead to 41-37. Sioux Falls Christian scored the next five points in a span of 30 seconds as Josh Fligge made a layup with 5:12 to go to give the Chargers a 42-41 lead. Chad Barkema made a driving layup with 3:24 to go giving the Chargers a 44-41 lead. Neither team score for almost two minutes until Hoglund hit a pair of free throws with 1:37 left in the game to pull Dell Rapids within a point at 44-43. Hoglund then banked in a floater with :47.6 on the clock to give Dell Rapids the lead at 45-44.
After a defensive stand by Dell Rapids, Carson Rentz was fouled with :14.2 remaining and made one of two free throws pushing the Quarrier lead to 46-44. Sioux Falls Christian’s Jackson Schipper was fouled on a last-second layup attempt giving the Chargers a chance to tie the game from the free-throw line with :01.6 on the clock. Schipper made the first free-throw, but missed the second as Sam White secured the rebound for the 46-45 Quarrier win.
“It was definitely a battle. We know it would be going in. Sioux Falls Christian is a great team. I’m so proud of our guys. Three games in a row we’ve faced a little bit of adversity and been down, especially in the second half. Not for one second did guys hang their heads. Not for one second did we panic. Our guys just played so calm, played so strong. We got stops on the defensive end, we got rebounds when we needed them, and executed some pretty good offense down the stretch too. It was a heck of a team effort,” said head coach Jason Fersdahl in a post-game interview with Big Sioux Media.
Dell Rapids finished the game shooting 33% (17-52) from the field, 15% (3-20) from three-point area, and 75% (9-12) from the free-throw line. The Quarriers had 26 team rebounds, seven team steals, and only turned the ball over five times.
Hoglund had 21 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Siemonsma had seven points and two rebounds. Mason Peter had six points and two rebounds. Jeffrey Schuch added five points, six rebounds, and a block. White ended the game with seven rebounds, three offensive, and two steals.
Dell Rapids (13-1) will play at Mt Vernon against the Mt Vernon/Plankinton Titans as part of a girls and boys double-header on Tuesday, February 9th.