The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals boys basketball team played in another close game on Monday, January 28th at Garretson High School. The Cardinals defeated the Garretson Blue Dragons 70-67 for their tenth win of the season. It was the eighth game decided by ten points or less for St Mary this year. The Cardinals are 5-3 in those games.
St Mary got off to a bit of a slow start in the game. Garretson built a double-digit lead in the first quarter at 20-10 with 1:31 to play in the quarter. St Mary got the lead down to seven points by the end of the quarter at 22-15. The Blue Dragons pushed the lead back to 10 points at 27-17 with 6:37 to play in the first half. The Cardinals cut the lead to six points, but a layup with 3:23 to play in the second quarter kept Garretson ahead by eight points at 33-25. St Mary then outscored Garretson 12-4 the remainder of the quarter to take a 37-36 lead into halftime.
The Cardinals seemed to be gaining the momentum as they extended their lead to seven points at 45-38 in the first two minutes of the third quarter. The St Mary lead grew to 12 points at 52-40 after a three-point shot from the corner by Connar Kangas. Garretson was able to chip into the lead by the end of the third quarter and trailed 57-51 heading into the final quarter. Garretson scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter and took the lead after a layup by Trevor Fiegen made the score 58-57 with 5:50 to play. The two teams traded baskets over the next three minutes and the game was tied 63-63 with just under 3:00 to play in the game. Connor Libis gave St Mary the lead with 2:30 to play after a shot from the middle of the lane. Fiegen hit a three-point shot in front of his bench with 1:10 to play giving Garretson a 66-65 lead. After missed one-and-one free throws by both teams, Libis was fouled on a shot with :39 to play. Libis was able to make both free throws to give the lead back to St Mary at 67-66. Drew Blosmo was fouled on a shot attempt and went one-for-two from the free-throw line to tie the game at 67-67 with :19 left in the game. After a timeout. Libis was fouled near half court on a reach-in, and made both of his free throws with :08 to go giving St Mary a 69-67 lead. Blosmo attempted a three-point shot from the corner which was no good. Max Herber pulled down the rebound and was immediately fouled. Herber made one of two free throws to seal the win for the Cardinals.
Three players scored in double figures for the Cardinals in the game. Libis finished with 27 points. Herber added 15 points, and Weston Geraets had 14 points. Garretson was led by Blosmo with 36 points and Fiegen with 21 points.
St Mary (10-3) will travel to Gayville to play Gayville-Volin on Monday, February 4th. Big Sioux Media will have a link to the Gayville-Volin webcast.