The Baltic Bulldog boys had their 2024-2025 season come to an end in Dell Rapids in the Region 3A tournament on Friday, March 7th. The Quarriers defeated the Bulldogs 35-32 to advance to the SoDak 16.
The defenses for both teams played a very strong game. Neither offense could get much going throughout the contest. The Bulldogs held a 5-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. Dell Rapids got on a run in the middle quarters. They outscored Baltic 11-5 in the second quarter for a 13-10 lead at halftime. The Quarriers also outscored the Bulldogs 13-3 in the third quarter to take a 26-13 lead into the fourth quarter.
With out strong the defenses were playing, the double-digit lead seemed like a tall mountain to climb. The Bulldogs offense, however, found their groove in the fourth quarter. Baltic got the lead down to 33-30 with :24 to play. After two missed free throws by Dell Rapids, Kellen Artz had a slam dunk with just over :05 to play to make the score 33-32. Karson Paye made two free throws with :00.4 left to seal the win for Dell Rapids.
Baltic shot 23% (11-48) overall, 1-14 on three-point attempts, and 60% (9-15) from the free-throw line. Dell Rapids finished the game shooting 31% (12-39) overall, 2-9 on three-point shots, and 43% (9-21) from the free-throw line.
Artz finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds, and four blocked shots. Ben Erickson added 10 points, four rebounds, and three steals. Trevor Cuperus had three points and six rebounds.
The Bulldogs finish the season with an overall record of 12-10.
