A close, back-and-forth battle through three quarters turned into a big win after a fourth-quarter Cardinal explosion on Monday, February 4th. The St Mary Cardinals erupted in the fourth quarter for a 72-48 road win against the Gayville-Volin Raiders.
St Mary started fast and took an early 8-1 lead in the first three minutes of the game. The Raiders responded after a timeout to go on an 11-4 run to take a 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Cardinals had a five-point lead two different times in the second quarter, but each time Gayville-Voin responded. The game was tied 26-26 at halftime. St Mary scored the first six points of the third quarter for a 32-26 lead with 5:45 to play in the quarter. The lead grew to seven points at 36-29 just a couple of minutes later. The Raiders responded with an 11-4 run to close out the quarter, and once again, the game was tied. This time the score was 40-40 heading into the final quarter. The Cardinals then got on fire in the fourth quarter. St Mary went on a 10-3 in the first two minutes of the quarter for a 50-43 with 6:00 to play. The Cardinals eventually outscored the Raiders 32-8 in the final quarter for the win.
Connor Libis finished the game with a game-high 38 points. Max Herber finished with 10 points, and Weston Geraets added eight points. Gayville-Volin was led by Tristan Gustand with 16 points.
The Cadinals (11-3) will travel to Centerville to take on the Tornadoes in their third road game in a row. The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.