It wasn’t easy, but the Dell Rapids Quarriers won their ninth straight game with an 84-67 win over the Canton C-Hawks on Monday, February 12th in Canton. Dell Rapids, ranked #4 in the latest South Dakota Media poll, got all they could handle from a scrappy Canton team. Carson Rentz also broke his own school record for made three-point shots in a game with nine in the contest.
Canton got the first quarter started and held a slim one-point lead at 5-4. Dell Rapids went on a 9-0 run midway through the first quarter to get a 13-5 lead with 2:50 to play in the quarter. The C-Hawks responded with a 5-2 run to close the gap at 15-10 to end the first quarter. Canton then scored the first five points of the second quarter to tie the game at 15-15 with 7:05 to play in the first half. The Dell Rapids defense then held Canton to just eight points the remainder of the quarter while the offense scored 23 points. The Quarriers held a 38-23 lead at halftime.
Dell Rapids increased their lead to 22 points at 45-23 in the first two minutes of the third quarter. They increased the lead to 23 points at 55-32 with 3:05 to go in the quarter. Canton then found an offensive spurt as they closed out the quarter on an 18-5 run to cut the lead to 60-50 by the end of the third quarter. Canton then scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to cut a 23-point lead down to eight points at 60-52. The Quarriers were able to maintain a 12-to-15 point lead due to the three-point shooting of Rentz. The Quarriers made seven free-throws in the final minute and a half while holding Canton to just one made field goal to close out the game for the victory.
Rentz led the team with 31 points in the game on a school-record nine made three-point shots and four free-throws. Rentz also had five assists and three rebounds. Mason Schmidt finished with 21 points and three rebounds. Jeffrey Schuch recorded another double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. He also dished out six assists and had three blocked shots. Elijah Story had seven points and four assists. Logan Heim had six points and seven rebounds. Drew Van Regenmorter, while held scoreless, had eight assists and six rebounds.
Dell Rapids (15-4) will close out the regular season at home on Friday, February 16th when the host the Lennox Orioles. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.