Playing in their second game in 24 hours, the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys basketball found a way to grind out a win in Baltic against the Bulldogs on Friday, February 21st. Even though the final score showed a 17-point win at 71-54, the game played much closer than that.
St Mary led for the entire game, but Baltic made a game of it late. The Cardinals held a five point lead after the first quarter at 16-11. They were able to push their lead to 11 points by halftime at 38-27. Baltic was able to cut into the lead, albeit slightly, by the end of the third quarter. St Mary held a 10-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter at 59-49. The Bulldogs scored the first three points of the final quarter to cut the lead down to seven at 59-52 with 7:00 to play. The Cardinal defense held Baltic to just two more points the rest of the game as they pulled away late in the quarter for the win.
The Cardinals were 43% (21-49) shooting from the field, 37% (10-27) from three-point area, and 79% (19-24) from the free-throw line. Weston Geraets had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds along with four assists in the game. Connor Libis had 27 points, six rebounds, and four steals. Sam Palmer had nine points, four rebounds, and two blocks. Cole Welbig also had nine points, five rebounds, and a team-high five assists. Max Herber finished with eight points and five rebounds.
St Mary (14-5) will close out the regular season on Friday, February 28th when they host the Centerville Tornadoes. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.