Despite having only two made field goals in the last 12 minutes of the game, the Dell Rapids Quarriers held off the Vermillion Tanagers for a 52-45 win in the SoDak 16 on Tuesday, March 10th at the Sanford Pentagon. The win gives the Quarriers a birth into the boys 2020 South Dakota Class A State Tournament March 19th – 21st in Rapid City.
It was Vermillion who held an early three-point lead at 5-2 with 5:48 in the first quarter after a made basket by Noah Gilbertson. Dell Rapids scored the next five points to take a 7-5 lead. The Tanagers responded with a 4-0 run for a 9-7 lead with 2:03 to play. That was the last lead of the game for Vermillion. Drew Van Regenmorter knocked down a three point shot moments later, and Dell Rapids ended the first quarter leading 10-9. The Quarriers got into an offensive groove early in the second quarter by going on an 8-2 run. Logan Ellingson made two free throws with 5:07 to play to extend the Quarrier lead to 18-11. The lead grew to 11 after a made basket by Coby Maeschen with 1:41 to go in the half. The Quarriers led 25-14 at that point and led 28-20 at halftime.
Dell Rapids was able to maintain a lead of seven points or more throughout the third quarter. In fact the lead grew to 12 points after a made three-point shot with Van Regenmorter with 4:07 to play in the quarter and two made free throws by Landon Ruesink with 3:51 to go. Both teams then went cold. Neither team made another point over the last 3:51 of the third quarter, and Dell Rapids held a 40-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Van Regenmorter pushed the Quarrier lead to a game-high 14 points with 7:15 to play in the game after a pair of made free throws. Vermillion then put together a comeback bid. The Tanagers went on a 15-2 run over the next four plus minutes to pull within a point at 44-43 with 3:31 to go. Van Regenmorter gave the Quarriers their first made field goal in nine minutes with 3:09 to play to push the Dell Rapids lead to 46-43. Dell Rapids was able to knock down three more free throws over the next couple of minutes to make the score 49-45 with :29 to play. After a missed free throw by Vermillion and an offensive rebound, Maeschen made a key block and rebound which led to a fast break basket by Connor Rentz with :19 to play to seal the victory for the Quarriers.
Dell Rapids finished the game shooting 45% (17-38) from the field, 27% (4-15) from three-point area, and 64% (14-22) from the free-throw line. They had 31 total rebounds and 13 turnovers.
Three players finished in double figures. Van Regenmorter finished with a game-high 13 points along with nine rebounds and four assists. Ruesink had 12 points off the bench. Colin Rentz had 11 points and five rebounds.
The Quarriers will enter the state tournament has the #7 seed. Their first game will be against #2 Sioux Valley on Thursday, March 19th. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ct / 3:00 p.m. mt in the Ice Arena at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City.