The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls hit a five minute scoring drought in the fourth quarter which helped the Centerville Tornadoes get a 53-45 win on Tuesday, February 16th.
St Mary found themselves down six points after the first quarter at 11-5. Centerville added to that lead in the second quarter and held a 23-15 halftime advantage. The Cardinals got into a groove midway through the third quarter. They erased the eight-point halftime deficit and held a 32-31 lead heading into the final quarter. St Mary extended their lead to six points, 41-35, after a made three-pointer by Ella Griffin with 5:30 to play. The Cardinals did not score for the next five minutes. Centerville used that drought to take the lead back and push it to eight points at 49-41. Madala Hanson made a free-throw to cut the lead to 49-42 with :28 left in the game. The Tornadoes made all eight of their free throws in the fourth quarter to take the win.
The Cardinals shot 32% (17-53) from the field, 32% (6-19) from three-point area, and five-for-six from the free-throw line. They had 24 team rebounds, 13 team assists, but turned the ball over 13 times.
Griffin led the team in scoring with 13 points and also had three rebounds and three steals. Courtney Brown had 10 points three rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Addyson Gilbert, Ella Heinitz, and Karlie Klein all had four points each.
St Mary (13-6) will finish the regular season at home against Elk Point-Jefferson on Thursday, February 18th. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.