The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals boys basketball got their second overtime win of the season on Saturday, December 29th at the 25th Annual Michael J. Entringer Scholarship Classic in Brookings. The Cardinals defeated the Castlewood Warriors 58-55 for their sixth win in a row.
Besides the second quarter, both teams found the offensive side of the basketball to be very difficult throughout the game. Castlewood held the lead for most of the first half. The Warriors led 13-8 after the first quarter. The offenses for both teams found rhythm in the second quarter. St Mary was able to outscore Castlewood 20-17 in the quarter, but the Warriors still led by two points at halftime, 30-28.
A defensive change to zone in the second half by the Cardinals caused problems for the Castlewood offense. The Warriors were held to just six third quarter points, and St Mary took a 41-36 lead into the fourth quarter. The Cardinals were held to just eight points in the quarter, but led 49-47 with under a minute to play. Brandon Benike scored on a layup with :29 to play to tie the game at 49-49. The Cardinals held for the final shot of regulation, but a deep three was no good, and the game went to overtime.
Castlewood scored the first four points in the first minute of overtime to take a 53-49 lead. St Mary didn’t get their first field goal of overtime until 1:45 to go after a rebound by Connar Kangas and outlet to Weston Geraets for a layup. After a defensive stop, Connor Libis hit a baseline jumper with under a minute to play to tie the game 53-53. W. Geraets got a steal and layup ten seconds later to give the Cardinals the lead at 55-53. The Cardinals got another back-court steal, and Max Herber was fouled with :11 to go after an offensive rebound. Herber made both free throws to push the lead to 57-53. Castlewood got a quick score on a layup with :06 to go to make the score 57-55. St Mary was able to get the ball in play, and Herber was fouled again. This time Herber went one-for-two from the line to make the score 58-55. A last second shot in front of the Warrior bench for Castlewood was short, and the Cardinals held on for the win.
Libis, named the game’s MVP, finished with 25 points, eight rebounds, and three steals. W. Geraets had 16 points and eight rebounds. Herber finished with 12 points, and five rebounds. Castlewood was led by Fenike with 23 points and 13 rebounds.
St Mary (6-0) will travel to De Smet for a girls and boys double-header on Friday, January 4th. Both games can be seen on Big Sioux Media.