Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley, Dells City Journal
The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys basketball team ended a two-game skid with a win over the Elkton-Lake Benton Elks on Monday, February 17th at home. The Cardinals earned a hard-fought 72-60.
The game was close through three quarters before the Cardinals pulled away late in the game. St Mary started with a 7-2 lead with 5:20 to play in the first quarter. The Elks closed out the quarter on a 17-9 run for a 19-16 lead by the end of the quarter. Elkton-Lake Benton kept that three point lead heading into halftime at 35-32.
The Cardinals were able to regain the lead in the third quarter as they outscored the Elks 19-14 to lead 51-49 heading into the fourth quarter. St Mary was then able to pull away by holding the Elks to just nine fourth-quarter points.
St Mary shot the ball well all night shooting 56% (28-50) from the field, 38% (5-13) from three-point area, and 61% (11-18) from the free-throw line. Connor Libis finished with 37 points and three steals. Max Herber had 15 points and four rebounds. Sam Palmer added five points and seven rebounds. Connor Kangas also had five points. Weston Geraets had four points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Cole Welbig had a team-high seven assists.
The Cardinals (13-4) will travel to Howard on Thursday, February 20th for a boys and girls double-header. Both games can be seen on Big Sioux Media.