On Friday night, March 28th, and Saturday, March 29th, the St. Mary Cardinal 5th-grade basketball team finished their season at the 85th Annual Tri-State Tournament put on by the Sioux Falls YMCA. The Cardinals won the “B” Division of the tournament in dramatic fashion over the Sioux Falls Wildcats.
The Cardinals came out with tenacious defense and opened up a 7-2 lead early in the game. The Wildcats came back though to tie the game up at 17-17 by halftime. To start the second half, the Wildcats came out and put the clamps down on St. Mary to open up a 28-19 lead. The turning point, to get the Cardinals back in the game, came at about the 13-minute mark of the second half when a Wildcat player kicked St. Mary’s center Max H. in the face when he was on the ground. A technical foul was called, and St. Mary’s received two points and the ball. St. Mary’s eventual came back and took the lead around the 3-minute mark. As St. Mary started to build a lead the Wildcats started to foul putting St. Mary’s at the free-throw line. With the Cardinals struggling with free throws, the Wildcats got back in the game to tie it up at 34-34.
With :31 seconds left, the Wildcats had the ball and set up the play they wanted. After a missed shot and two offensive rebounds, the Wildcats finally lost the ball out of bounds to the Cardinals. The Cardinals brought the ball across half court and called their final timeout with :13 seconds left in the game. In the time out, Coach Craig Libis set up an inbound play for the last shot. The Cardinals inbounded the ball to Connor L. With immense pressure he dribbled the ball to the top of the key. With five seconds left, he began to drive. The Wildcats shut down the lane, and Connor L. tried to back in closer, but with one second left, he turned and threw up the last shot that fell in for a 36-34 win.
Earlier in the tournament, the Cardinals came away with wins over DeSmet (40-27) and Sibley, IA (35-28). The Cardinals finished 40-7 in their season.
Front row L to R: Clay W., Connor L., Colin W., Jon B., Nick W., Hunter G., Connar K., & Sam P. Standing L to R: Coach Lee Palmer, Noah D., Coach Craig Libis, Max H., Coach Jason Griffin, Thomas E., Austin G., and Coach Matt Herber.