The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys basketball team played in their fifth overtime game of the season, and second game in a row, on Friday, January 25th. The Cardinals hosted the Lake Preston Divers and earned a 67-66 come-from-behind, overtime win.
The Cardinals struggled to get the offense going for much of the game. Lake Preston got out to an early 5-0 lead in the first quarter, holding the Cardinals to no points in the first three minutes of the game. The Divers led 13-8 in the final seconds before Cole Welbig hit a three-point shot at the buzzer to cut the lead to 13-11. The Divers didn’t allow the Cardinals to use that shot as momentum. Lake Preston pushed their lead to as many as nine points at 23-14. The Cardinals finished the quarter on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to three points at 23-20 by halftime.
St Mary scored five points in the first minute of the third quarter and took a brief 25-23 lead. Lake Preston responded with the next four points, but Connar Kangas hit a three-point shot from the right corner with 6:15 to go in third quarter to give St Mary a 28-27 lead. The Divers then went on to outscore St Mary 17-6 the rest of the quarter for a 44-34 lead after three quarters of play.
The Cardinal offense found their groove in the fourth quarter. St Mary went on a 15-5 scoring run capped off by a three-point shot by Connor Libis with 4:50 to play. The game was tied 49-49. St Mary continued the momentum and took a 57-52 lead with 3:00 to play. The Cardinals continued to hold the lead at 60-56 with 1:05 to play in the game. The Divers tied the game on two made free throws with :06 to go. Kangas had a chance to win the game for the Cardinals from the free throw line after being fouled on a last second shot, but missed both free throws. The game was headed to overtime.
Lake Preston struck first in the overtime period scoring the first four points and led 64-50 with 2:40 to play. Libis went one-for-two from the free throw line with 2:24 to play, and after a defensive stop, Kangas drilled a game-tying three-point shot from left wing with 1:42 to go. After a couple more defensive stops, Libis made the go-ahead three-point shot from the same spot Kangas made his with :20 to go. The Cardinals led 67-64, and the Divers had the final possession. After a Lake Preston timeout with just :07 to go, the Cardinals played tight defense along the perimeter to deny a three-point shot. St Mary gave up a layup at the buzzer, but it wasn’t enough as St Mary came from behind for the win.
Libis finished the game with 35 points. Colin Winberg added 10 points for St Mary. Lake Preston had four players finish in double figures led by Paydon Casper with 15 points.
The Cardinals (9-3) will begin a six-game road stretch on Monday, January 28th. St Mary will travel to Garretson to play the Blue Dragons. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.