The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls basketball team finished fourth at the Dakota Valley Conference tournament after falling to the Arlington Cardinals 48-31 at Colman-Egan High School on Saturday, January 25th. During the course of the game, Ella Heinitz surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her high school career.
The teams traded baskets and the lead in the first four minutes of the game. Leading 8-7 with three minutes left in the quarter, Arlington scored the final four points for a 12-7 lead heading into the second quarter. The defenses played tough in the second quarter and limited the scoring through the first five and a half minutes of the quarter. Arlington led 20-14 at the 2:30 mark of the half. Arlington was able to extend their lead to 24-14 at halftime.
Arlington opened up the second half on a 9-4 run to extend their lead to 33-18 with 3:30 to play in the third quarter. With St Mary trailing 33-19, Ella Heinitz got a defensive rebound, sprinted down the court and knocked down a jumper just inside the free-throw line at the 2:31 mark of the third quarter to hit the 1,000-point milestone for her career. Unfortunately for St Mary, Arlington pushed the lead even higher to 38-21 by the end of the quarter. Both teams scored 10 points each in the final quarter.
St Mary (6-7) will travel to Baltic to play the Bulldogs on Monday, January 27th. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.