The Dell Rapids Quarrier girls are headed back to the State A Tournament after a Region 3A Championship win over the Flandreau Fliers 50-42 at Garretson High School on Thursday, March 3rd.
Both teams were on fire offensively in the first quarter combining for 40 points. The two teams traded leads in the first quarter, but it was Dell Rapids having a 21-19 advantage at the end of the quarter. The second quarter was more of a defensive battle as the two teams combined for only nine points total. The Quarriers held a 28-21 lead at halftime.
The Quarriers pushed their lead to 10 points a couple of times in the third quarter, but Flandreau was able to cut the lead back to seven by the end of the quarter at 36-29. The Fliers opened up the fourth quarter on a 5-0 run to pull within in two points, but that was as close as the Fliers could get as Dell Rapids pulled away for the win.
Mikaela Stofferahn led a balanced Quarrier offensive attack with 14 point, scoring 10 of those in the second half. Emma Paul finished with 10 points in the game. Arial Hoffman finished with nine points, and Lidnsey Morris and Averi Pankonen each had five points.
Senior guard Sami Reider said, “I think we really came together as a team tonight as opposed to the whole season. We really put four quarters together tonight. We haven’t been able to do that yet. I’m really proud to say that I’m a Quarrier first of all, and I’m really proud to say that I’m a part of this team. We’ve been about the same team the past three years, and I’m really excited to go experience that again with these same girls.”
The 2016 South Dakota Girls State A Tournament will be held in Watertown on March 10th-12th.
