The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls basketball team split a pair of games on back-to-back nights on Thursday, January 28th and Friday, January 29th. Both games were on the road for the Cardinals. St Mary defeated the Alcester-Hudson Cubs on Thursday, 55-38. The Cardinals then fell to the Deubrook Dolphins 64-51 on Friday.
St Mary built a 20 point lead in the first half and that was a big enough lead to get the victory over the Cubs. The Cardinals led 13-4 at the end of the first quarter. The score was 28-8 with 1:45 to play in the second quarter before the Cubs scored the final five points for a 28-13 halftime lead for St Mary.
The Cardinals kept the lead at 15 by the end of the third quarter. St Mary held a 36-21 advantage heading into the final quarter. The Cubs went on a 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter to make the score 36-27. The lead was down to seven points at 38-31 with 5:05 to play, but the Cardinals went on a 16-2 run to make the score 54-33 with 1:35 in the game to secure the win.
Ella Heinitz had 22 points, six rebounds, five steals, and three assists. Ella Griffin had 11 points, three steals, and two rebounds. Brianna Griffin had six points, and Courtney Brown had five points, six rebounds, and four steals.
St Mary had the lead through the first two quarters against Deubrook, but the Dolphins got hot in the second half to take the win.
In a fast-paced, exciting first quarter, the two teams combined for seven three-point shots and 40 points. The Cardinals led 22-18 at the end of the first quarter. The two teams cooled off significantly in the second quarter. Both teams scored just six points each, and the Cardinals led 28-24.
St Mary’s last lead of the game came with 5:45 to play in the third quarter, 33-31. The Dolphins outscored the Cardinals 14-8 the rest of the quarter to lead 45-41 heading into the fourth quarter. Deubrook scored 19 more points in the fourth quarter and made free-throws late in the game for the win.
Heinitz finished with 12 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. E. Griffin had 10 points, seven rebounds, and two assists. Madala Hanson had nine points, and Sydney Klein and Karlie Klein both had seven points each.
The Cardinals (9-4) will host Freeman Academy/Marion on Thursday, February 4th. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.