Dell Rapids St Mary and Mitchell Christian were tied 40-40 with 3:00 to play in the game. It was at that point the Cardinals went on a late rally to earn their first victory of the 2018-2019 season on Tuesday, December 11th at Dell Rapids St Mary High School. The Cardinals outscored the Golden Eagles 12-2 in the final minutes for a 52-42 victory.
The two teams played a close first quarter to start the game. St Mary held a slim 10-9 lead before closing the quarter on a 7-2 run to lead 17-11 after the first break. The Cardinals continued the rally in the second quarter pushing their lead to 15 points at 30-15 by halftime. St Mary scored the first three points of the third quarter for their largest lead of the night at 33-15. The Golden Eagles would mount a rally of their own as they cut the lead down to 39-30 by the end of the third quarter. Mitchell Christian then outscored the Cardinals 10-1 in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 40-40. From that point onward, St Mary took control of the game for the win.
Ella Heinitz finished with a team-high 18 points and also added six rebounds, and three steals. Maddie Schwebach tallied 15 points, 11 rebounds, and six steals. Ella Griffin finished with seven points, five rebounds and five assists.
The Cardinals (1-1) will host Oldham-Ramona/Rutland on Thursday, December 13th. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.