Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley

Even though the game didn’t end in the favor of the Dell Rapids Quarriers, there was still plenty to celebrate for the Quarriers on Saturday, March 20th.  The Quarriers played in their final game of the 2021 South Dakota State A Tournament and season against the Dakota Valley Panthers.  The Panthers  won the game 69-60 giving the Quarriers a fourth place finish in the state tournament.

The Panthers and Quarriers were tied two times early in the first quarter at 10-10 and 13-13.  Dell Rapids took their only lead of the game, 15-13, after a basket by Carter Nelson with 2:23 in the quarter.  The Panthers finished the quarter on a 7-0 run for a 20-15 lead.  Dakota Valley pushed the lead to 12 points, 29-17, with 5:38 left in the half.  Dell Rapids got within five points, 33-28, after a three-pointer by Colin Rentz with 2:26 to go in the quarter.  Dakota Valley ended the half leading 34-28.

The Quarrier fans were brought to their feet early in the third quarter as Colin Rentz surpassed 1,000 points for his career in his final game as a Dell Rapids Quarrier.  Dell Rapids chipped the lead down to three points, 48-45, after a three-pointer by Connor Rentz with 1:23 in the quarter.  The Panthers pushed the lead back to five points, 45-40, heading into the fourth.  The Quarriers again got the lead down to just a single possession, 52-50, this time after a three-pointer by Brayden Pankonen with 7:07 in the game, but that was as close as Dell Rapids could get.  The Panthers extended the lead back to 10 points with 4:08 to go and hung on for the win.

Colin Rentz finished with 29 points, five assists, and three rebounds.  Connor Rentz had eight points and four rebounds.  Carter Nelson finished with six points, three blocks, and two rebounds.  Pankonen had six points, two rebounds, and an assists.  Avery Boechler finished with three points.  Coby Maeschen added two points, three rebounds, and an assist.

Colin Rentz was also named to the All-Tournament team.

Dell Rapids finished fourth in the 2021 South Dakota Class A State Tournament and had a 17-8 overall record.

Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley

Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley

The Sioux Falls Christian Chargers took advantage of some offensive struggles by the Dell Rapids Quarriers in the middle quarters and defeated the Quarriers 64-52 in the semifinal round of the South Dakota State A Tournament on Friday, March 19th.

The Quarriers found themselves down by six points early in the first quarter, 10-4, but ended the first on an 8-2 run to end the first quarter tied 12-12.  Dell Rapids took their first and only lead of the game, 15-14, after a Landon Ruesink free throw with 6:12 to play in the second quarter.  The Chargers went on a 5-0 run and eventually pushed the lead to nine points, 28-19 with 2:01 to go in the half.  Connor Rentz scored the final two points of the half, and the Quarriers trailed 28-21 at halftime.

Sioux Falls Christian took advantage of the shots not falling for the  Quarriers in the third quarter.  The Chargers extended their lead to as many as 16 points, 46-30, with just under a minute to play in the third quarter.  They led 48-33 heading into the final quarter.  Dell Rapids could not get any closer than 12 points in the fourth quarter.  The Quarriers trailed 50-38 with 5:10 in the game after two free-throws by Connor Rentz, but every time Dell Rapids tried to make a run, the Chargers shut the door and extended their lead.

Dell Rapids shot just 34% (17-50) from the field, only 22% (4-18) from three-point area, and 67% (14-21) from the free-throw line.  The Quarriers were out-rebounded 40-27 by the Chargers.

Colin Rentz had 19 points, five rebounds, and three assists.  Connor Rentz had 13 points and four rebounds.  Coby Maeschen had six points and six rebounds.  Brayden Pankonen had five points.  Carter Nelson and Ruesink both finished with three points each.

Dell Rapids (17-7) will play in the 3rd/4th place game against Dakota Valley on Saturday, March 20th at 5:00 p.m.

Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley

One of the best things about March basketball is that anything can happen.  That statement rang true in the opening game of the 2021 South Dakota Class A Boys State Tournament in Sioux Falls on Thursday, March 18th.

The #8-seeded Dell Rapids Quarriers controlled most of the game against the #1-seeded Vermillion Tanagers.  The game was tied only three times and only had four lead changes.  But as expected with these two teams, the final three minutes of the game is what makes March basketball so special.

The Quarriers made the first basket of the game, but Vermillion tied the game after two made free-throws for the first tie.  Dell Rapids went on to shoot 6-11 from the field and 3-4 from beyond three-point area to build a 19-11 lead by the end of the first quarter.  The lead grew to as many as 11 points, 30-19, after two made free-throws by Brayden Paknonen with 2:48 in the first half.  The Tanagers cut the lead back down to eight points by halftime, 32-24.

The third quarter was a grind-out, defensive battle between the two teams.  Vermillion pulled within three points a couple of times in the quarter.  Jake Jensen made a three-pointer with 2:13 to play to cut the Dell Rapids lead to 37-34.  Dillion Gestring’s field goal with 1:32 in the quarter pulled the Tanagers within two points, 38-36, but Dell Rapids ended the quarter on a 3-0 run to push the lead back to five points, 41-36 heading into the final quarter.

Dell Rapids kept about a three-point advantage throughout much of the fourth quarter, but Vermillion took their first lead of the game after a Gestring field goal, 44-43, with 2:48 in the game.  The two teams traded baskets over the next couple of minutes, and the game was tied 48-48 (1:39 to go) and 50-50 with :55 on the clock.

The Tanagers had possession of the ball with :31 to go, and after a timeout, the play went to Gestring.  Gestring drove baseline straight to the hoop and was fouled on his shot attempt.  Gestring missed both free-throws, and Dell Rapids secured the rebound with the game still tied 50-50.  After two Quarrier timeouts, Dell Rapids tried to inbound the ball with :09 only to have the pass stolen by Jakob Dobney.  Dobney sprinted to his basket and laid the ball in with :05 on the clock giving Vermillion a 52-50 advantage.  Colin Rentz took the inbound pass and sprinted down the court.  Colin Rentz found an open Landon Ruesink on the left wing.  Ruesink, staying behind the three-point line, let got of the shot just before the buzzer, sinking the three-point shot to give the Quarriers a 53-52 victory and sending the Quarrier players to a pile on half court.  This was the first loss of the season for Vermillion

Pankonen finished with 15 points, three steals and two rebounds.  Connor Rentz also had 15 points along with three rebounds, and two assists.  Colin Rentz had 10 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and four steals.  Ruesink added seven points, three steals, and two assists.  Coby Maeschen had four points and nine rebounds.  Carter Nelson was a defensive force with five blocked shots in the game.

The Quarriers will take on Sioux Falls Christian in the semifinal round on Friday, March 19th.  Tip-off is at 5:00 p.m.

Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley

The Dell Rapids Quarrier boys basketball team qualified for the state tournament for the third straight year after two post season wins.  The Quarriers defeated the West Central Trojans 65-52 on Friday, March 5th at home in the Region 3A tournament.  Dell Rapids then traveled to Parkston and defeated the Rapid City Christian Comets 68-54 in the SoDak 16 on Tuesday, March 9th.

The Quarriers used a big first quarter to propel them to the 65-52 win over the Trojans.  Dell Rapids raced out to a 21-5 lead by the end of the first quarter.  The Quarriers led 36-19 at halftime.  That lead was big enough to survive a West Central run in the second half.  The Trojans held Dell Rapids to just seven points in third quarter and cut the lead to 43-37 heading into the final quarter.  West Central got the lead down to 47-43 with 5:27 to play, but Dell Rapids closed out the game on an 18-9 run for the win.

Dell Rapids shot 51% (23-45) from the field, 33% (6-18) from three-point area, and 62% (13-21) from the free-throw line. 

Colin Rentz finished with 21 points, nine rebounds, and three assists.  Carter Nelson had 14 points, six rebounds, and three blocks.  Brayden Pankonen had 13 points.  Connor Rentz added nine points and four rebounds.

Photo taken and used with permission by Sara Stadem

The Quarriers then hit the road on Tuesday, March 9th to Parkston to play the Rapid City Christian Comets in the SoDak 16 with a trip to the State A tournament on the line.

Both teams got off to a slow start in the first quarter.  Dell Rapids held a 7-4 lead at the end of the first quarter as both teams combined to shoot 5-23 from the field.  Dell Rapids extended their lead to 23-14 by halftime.

Dell Rapids continued to build on their lead in the third quarter.  The Quarriers led 39-24 heading into the final quarter.  Both teams then put on an offensive show in the fourth quarter.  They combined for a total of 59 points in the final quarter.  Every time the Comets looked like they were going to make a run, the Quarriers responded and were able to keep the Comets at bay for the win.

The Quarriers finished the game shooting 43% (21-49) from the field, 35% (7-20) from three-point area, and 73% (19-26) from the free-throw line.  The Comets were 39% from the field and shot only two free-throws in the game.

Pankonen had the hot hand for the Quarriers, making six three-pointers and finishing the game with 27 points.  Colin Rentz had 14 points, 10 rebounds, and five steals.  Connor Rentz had 12 points and five assists.  Nelson added nine points, 10 rebounds, and four steals.

Dell Rapids (16-6) will be the #8 seed in the South Dakota Boys Class A State Tournament.  Their first game will be against #1 Vermillion on Thursday, March 18th at 12:00 p.m. at the Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.