The Dell Rapids Quarriers wrapped up their 2016-2017 regular season with a win in Lennox against the Orioles on Friday, February 17th.  The Quarriers won by a score of 62-52.  This was the third win in a row for Dell Rapids.

The Quarriers opened up the game with a 13-9 lead after the first quarter.  They were able to push the lead to 12 points at 33-21 by halftime.  Lennox, however, pulled within three points by the end of the third quarter at 41-38.  Dell Rapids was able to pull away in the fourth quarter for the win.

Dell Rapids finished the game shooting 44% (22-50) from the field, 8% (1-12) from three-point area, and 68% (17-25) from the free-throw line.  The Quarriers finished with 35 team rebounds, 13 assists, and eight steals.

Mason Schmidt led Dell Rapids with 16 points.  Jeffrey Schuch had 15 points and eight rebounds.  Mason Peter added 11 points.  Sheldon Siemonsma and Austin Ellingson both had nine points each.  Siemonsma also had nine rebounds and four assists.  Ellingson had three assists and four steals.

Dell Rapids (16-4) will have a week off before the start of the Region 3A tournament.  The tournament will begin on Tuesday, February 28th.

For the second game in a row, the Dell Rapids Quarriers got a last-second, game-winning basket.  This time Mason Peter hit the go-ahead bucket with :03 to go in the game to give the Quarriers at 60-58 win over the Canton C-Hawks on Monday, February 13th, at Dell Rapids High School.

The first quarter was a series of runs for both teams.  Dell Rapids got out to an early 6-0 lead, but Canton answered with seven straight points to take the lead at 7-6.  Dell Rapids closed out the first quarter on a 5-0 run and led 11-7 after the first quarter.  Both offenses got rolling in the second quarter as they combined for 40 points in the second quarter alone.  Dell Rapids was able to extend their lead to 34-24 at halftime.

The Quarriers were able to maintain a 10-12 point lead throughout much of the third quarter.  They were able to push their lead to a game-high 16 points at 49-33 with 1:00 to go in the third quarter.  Canton closed out the third quarter on a 4-0 run, and Dell Rapids led 49-37 heading into the final quarter.  The Quarriers got the first basket of the fourth quarter and led 51-37 with 7:40 remaining in the game, but that’s when Canton began their comeback.  The C-Hawks scored the next 10 points and closed the gap to 51-47 with 4:40 to go.  Jeffrey Schuch made a reverse layup with 4:30 left in the game to stop the 10-0 Canton run and push the lead back to 53-47.  Canton went on an 11-5 run over the next four minutes capped off by a Jake Peterson field goal to tie the game at 58-58 with just :30 to go.

With the shot clock turned off, the Quarriers held the ball near half court until the clock ran down to about :10 to go.  Austin Ellingson hit Peter with a pass that was nearly stolen at the top of the key.  Because of the aggressive defensive play, Peter was able to drive to the free-throw line and knock down the shot with just :03 to go.  After three time outs in a row, Canton’s inbound pass was tipped by Peter and the 3/4 court heave was no good as time expired.

Three players finished in double figures for Dell Rapids.  Peter led the team with 15 points, three rebounds, two assists, and three steals.  Sheldon Siemonsma had 14 points, six rebounds, and two assists.  Jeffrey Schuch added 13 points, six rebounds, and three assists.  Tanner Heim had nine points, and Austin Ellingson had seven points.

Dell Rapids (13-6) will finish their regular season on the road in Lennox on Friday, February 17th.  Big Sioux Media will have a link to the Lennox High School video stream.

With :06.5 to go in the game and the Quarriers trailing 50-51, Carson Rentz  dribbled the length of the court and took a three-point shot just to the right of the top of the key.  The ball traveled through the air as the time ticked off the clock and went through the hoop hitting nothing but net as the clock hit 0:00 to give the Dell Rapids Quarriers a 53-51 win over the St Thomas More Cavaliers on Saturday, February 11th, at the DWU Culver Classic in Mitchell.  The win ended a four game skid for the Quarriers.

Dell Rapids led 15-11 after the first quarter, but the Cavaliers cut that lead in half in the second quarter.  Dell Rapids took a 25-23 lead into halftime.  St Thomas More erased that deficit by outscoring Dell Rapids 17-7 in the third quarter, and the Cavaliers led 40-32 at the end of the third quarter.  Dell Rapids then flipped the script and outscored the Cavaliers 21-11 in the final quarter.

Austin Ellingson and Jeffrey Schuch both finished with 10 points in the game for Dell Rapids.  Rentz ended with nine points, Mason Peter had seven points, and Tanner Heim and Sheldon Siemonsma both had six points each.  Heim led the team with nine rebounds, and Schuch finished with eight rebounds.  Ellingson also had five assists in the game, while Siemonsma had two steals.

Rentz was named the game’s MVP for his nine points and buzzer-beater, game-winning three-point shot.

Dell Rapids (12-6) will play their final home game of the regular season on Monday, February 13th, when they host the Canton C-Hawks.  The game will be part of a girls and boys double-header, and seniors will be recognized between the girls and boys game.  Both games can be seen on Big Sioux Media.