Leading 35-34 over Colman-Egan with just seconds to go in the game, the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals was at the free-throw line with a one-and-one opportunity. The free throw shot missed, but the Cardinals grabbed the offensive rebound. However, a steal and a race down the court to beat the clock resulted in a game-winning, last second shot by the Colman-Egan Hawks to send them to the championship game of the Dakota Valley Conference Tournament with a 36-35 victory on Thursday, January 21st.
Both of the offenses had some struggles in the first quarter. The Cardinals held a slim 6-5 advantage at the quarter break. The Hawks were able to build an eight point lead at 21-13 late in the second quarter, but the Cardinals ended the half on a 5-0 run to cut the lead down to 21-18 by halftime.
St Mary continued to chip away at the small Colman-Egan lead in the third quarter. The two teams headed into the fourth quarter tied 28-28. Colman-Egan was leading 32-30, but St Mary went on a 5-0 run to lead 35-32 with 2:00 to go in the game. The Hawks ended the game on a 4-0 run, including the last second game-winning shot, to get the win.
The stats were fairly even between the two teams. Both teams finished the game shooting 33% from the field. St Mary was 25% from three-point area, while the Hawks were 23%. Colman-Egan out rebounded St Mary 31-29.
Ella Heinitz had 16 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Courtney Brown finished with seven points and three rebounds. Brianna Griffin had six points, and Karlie Klein had four points and four rebounds.
St Mary (7-3) will play Arlington in the 3rd/4th place game of the DVC Tournament on Saturday, January 23rd. The game will be at 4:00 p.m. in Elkton and can be seen on Big Sioux Media.