The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys basketball team won a pair of basketball games on Friday, February 15th and Saturday, February 16th to extend their current winning streak to a season-high seven games. The Cardinals defeated the Baltic Bulldogs on Friday and then beat the Elkton-Lake Benton Elks on Saturday.
After six days since their last game and a couple of postponements, St Mary was able to get back to the court against the Baltic Bulldogs on Friday at Dell Rapids St Mary High School. The Cardinals beat the Bulldogs 65-48.
The Cardinals led the entire game. St Mary had an 18-12 lead after the first quarter of play and extended the lead to 10 points at 34-24 by halftime. St Mary continued to pull farther away throughout the second half for the victory.
Connor Libis had a game-high 30 points, and Weston Geraets added nine points for St Mary. Baltic was led by Brodee Teveldal with 14 points and Sam Muston with 10 points.
St Mary then traveled to Elkton Saturday afternoon for a makeup game with the Elkton-Lake Benton Elks. The Cardinals avenged an earlier loss to the Elks with a 68-59 victory.
The Cardinals built an eight point lead after the first quarter of play at 21-13. St Mary was able to keep that cushion throughout the second quarter and led 37-28 at halftime. The third quarter proved to be difficult offensively for both teams. The Elks outscored St Mary 9-8 to cut the lead to 45-37. The offense picked up in the fourth quarter when the teams combined for 45 total points. St Mary outscored the Elks 23-22 to seal the victory.
Three Cardinals finished the game in double figures. Libis had 32 points. Connar Kangas had 13 points, and Colin Winberg finished with 11 points. Matthew Nibbe had 25 points, and Grant DeRuyter had 24 points for Elkton-Lake Benton.
St Mary (15-3) will travel to Arlington on Monday afternoon for a makeup game. The game will tip-off at 4:30 p.m. and will be a varsity only game.