The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals lost a tough Dakota Valley Conference game to the Colman-Egan Hawks on Monday, February 12th at Colman-Egan High School.  The Hawks beat St Mary 85-61 by outscoring the Cardinals 42-23 in the middle two quarters.

The first minute was back and forth.  Luke Brown made a three-point shot with 6:56 to give the Cardinals a 7-5 lead.  Another three-point basket, this time by Connar Kangas with 5:21 to go, put St Mary back in front 10-9.  The Hawks went on a 8-2 run over the next two minutes to grab a 17-12 lead.  Two more three-point shots from Brown got St Mary within a point at 19-18, but the Hawks closed out the first quarter on a 4-0 run to lead 23-18 after the first quarter.

Colman-Egan increased their lead to eight points at 32-24 after a made basket by Kade Groos with 5:19 to play in the first half.  Connor Libis cut the lead back down to five moments later with a three-point basket.  Libis made scored another two points with 3:47 to play in the first half to keep the Colman-Egan lead at five points at 34-29.  The Hawks, however, ended the second quarter on a 9-0 run to lead 43-29 at halftime.

The Colman-Egan lead grew to 20 points after a made free throw by Bodee Groos with 5:28 to play in the third quarter.  That lead grew to 24 points at 65-41 by the end of the third quarter.  St Mary couldn’t get the lead inside of 20 points for much of the fourth quarter as Colman-Egan took the win.

St Mary finished the game shooting 49% from the field, 50% from three-point area, and 64% from the free-throw line.  The Cardinals were out rebounded 33-12 and were forced into 17 turnovers during the game.

Libis finished with 20 points and two assists.  Brown added 11 points and two assists.  Weston  Geraets had 10 points and five rebounds.  The Hawks had five players finish in double figures led by B. Groos with 25 points and nine rebounds.

The Cardinals (10-9) will close out the regular season at Baltic on Friday, February 16th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

On the final regular season home game of the season for the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys basketball team, the Chester Flyers defeated the Cardinals 65-46 on Saturday, February 10th.

St Mary had a lead early in the game.  The Cardinals led after the first quarter at 17-11.  From that point, the Flyer defense clamped down on the Cardinals.  Chester Area took a four-point lead into halftime at 26-22.  They continued to grow the lead at the end of each quarter in the second half.  The Flyers led 45-34 at the end of the third quarter, and then Chester outscored St Mary 20-12 in the final quarter for the win.

Connor Libis led the team in scoring with 17 points.  Luke Brown finished with 13 points, two rebounds, one block and one assist.  Connar Kangas had six points.  Max Herber finished with five points and eight rebounds.  Drew Wood had eight rebounds and two blocked shots.  Chester Area was led by Devin Eppard with 32 points and Aden Baumberger with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

This year’s seniors for the Cardinals are Jason Cook, Drew Wood, Luke Brown, manager Seth Bares, along with cheerleaders Cassy Geraets, Adyn Heinricy, and Emma Nelson.

St Mary (10-8) will travel to Colman to play the Colman-Egan Hawks on Monday, February 12th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals earned a big Dakota Valley Conference and Region 4B win with a strong defensive second half over the Elkton-Lake Benton Elks on Thursday, February 8th at Dell Rapids St Mary High School.  The Cardinals won 64-54, but only allowed 13 second half points.

The Elks opened the game on a 7-0 run in the first 2:30 of the game.  The Cardinals responded with an 8-0 of their own over the next couple of minutes.  The two teams went back and forth for the remained of the first quarter.  Elkton-Lake Benton led 24-23 at the end of the first quarter.  The game continued to go back and forth in the second quarter.  The Elks were able to extend their lead by three points to 41-38 by halftime.

The Cardinals came out of halftime with a great defensive plan that was executed perfectly.  St Mary held the Elks to just six points in the third quarter as the Cardinals took a three-point lead at 50-47 into the fourth quarter.  The Cardinals then held Elkton-Lake Benton to seven points in the fourth quarter while scoring 14 of their own on their way to the win.

Two players finished in double figures for the Cardinals.  Connor Libis had 35 points to lead all scorers.  Luke Brown finished with 12 points, two rebounds, and two blocked shots.  Weston Geraets had nine points, seven rebounds, and three blocked shots.  Ethan Geraets tallied four points.

St Mary (10-7) will have their final regular-season home game on Saturday, February 10th when they host the Chester Area Flyers.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals jumped out to a 13-2 lead in the first four minutes of the game and never looked back as they cruised to a 66-25 win over the Centerville Tornadoes on Tuesday, February 6th at Dell Rapids St Mary High School.

St Mary continued the high-energy defense and offense as they lead 23-9 after the first quarter.  The lead grew to 43-15 by halftime for the Cardinals.  The St Mary defense then held the Tornadoes to just six points in the third quarter and grew their lead to 60-21.  The Cardinals then outscored Centerville 6-4 in the final quarter.

Connor Libis led the team in scoring with 22 points and also pulled down nine rebounds.  Max Herber had nine points and eight rebounds.  Weston Geraets added nine points and six rebounds.  Luke Brown also finished with nine points.  Josh Eining had six points, while Ethan Geraets had four points.

The Cardinals (9-7) continue their home stand when the host the Elkton-Lake Benton Elks on Thursday, February 8th.

The McCook Central/Montrose Fighting Cougars rode a 17-0 run in the fourth quarter to a 54-43 win over the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals on Saturday, February 3rd in Salem.

The two teams went back-and-forth throughout the first quarter.  The Fighting Cougars held a slim 18-16 lead at the first quarter break.  The Cardinals were held down offensively in the second quarter.  McCook Central/Montrose held St Mary to just six points and built a 32-22 lead by halftime.  The Cardinals were able to make the necessary adjustments in the locker room and opened the third quarter on a 12-1 run to take a 34-33 lead.  The Cardinals grew that lead to 41-35 by the end of the third quarter.  St Mary led 43-37 with 3:56 to play in the game, but that’s when the Fighting Cougars closed out the game on the 17-0 run for the win.

St Mary finished the night shooting 28% from the field, 24% from three-point area, and 60% from the free-throw line.  The Cardinals had a total of 32 team rebounds, six steals, and turned the ball over 10 times.

Luke Brown finished the night with 17 points, three rebounds, and an assist.  Connor Libis added 12 points, seven rebounds, and an assist.  West Geraets had six points and six rebounds, and Max Herber finished with four points and three rebounds.

St Mary (8-7) will host Centerville on Tuesday, February 6th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The first and fourth quarters for the Arlington Cardinals proved to be enough to earn a 74-52 win over the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals boys team on Thursday, February 1st at Dell Rapids St Mary High School.

Arlington started the game on a 7-0 run in the first 2:05.  The run continued throughout the rest of the first quarter as Arlington led 24-7 at the quarter break.  They continued to lead St Mary by 17 points at 28-11 with 6:24 left in the first half.  St Mary started to close the gap at that point.  St Mary closed out the first half on a 15-11 run to cut the lead to 13 points a 39-26 at halftime.  St Mary continued their run in the third quarter.  St Mary outscored Arlington 22-16 to get the game within single digits at 55-48.  Arlington then made their second big run of the game.  They went on a 9-0 run in the first 2:11 of the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 64-48.  Arlington continued to stifle St Mary.  St Mary only scored four total points in the fourth quarter as Arlington pulled away for the Dakota Valley Conference win.

Two players finished in double figures for St Mary.  Connor Libis had 20 points and three rebounds in the game.  Max Herber finished with 15 points and six rebounds.  Luke Brown tallied eight points, and Weston Geraets added four points.  Arlington was led by Will Parry with 26 points, Scott Sampson with 18 points, and Devon Heuer with 12 points.

St Mary (8-6) will play McCook Central/Montrose in Salem on Saturday, February 3rd.  This is a make-up date from a postponement earlier in the season.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys got back in the win column in an exciting way on Tuesday, January 30th.  The Cardinals won in overtime over the Gayville-Volin Raiders 58-53 at Dell Rapids St Mary High School.

The two teams went back and forth throughout the entire first quarter.  The first quarter ended with a 15-15 tie.  The Cardinals opened the second quarter on a little 7-2 run.  St Mary led 22-15 with about 6:30 to play in the first half.  After the Raiders pulled within a point at 22-21, St Mary responded with five quick points to push the lead back to six points at 27-21.  The half ended with St Mary leading 33-27.

The third quarter proved to be a tough offensive quarter for the Cardinals.  St Mary was held to just four points, and the Raiders closed the gap at 39-35 by the end of the third quarter.  The drought continued early into the fourth quarter for St Mary.  The Raiders scored the first five points of the fourth quarter and took the lead 40-39.  The two teams traded points throughout much of the fourth quarter.  The game was tied 48-48 with under a minute to play.  Connor Libis hit a tough tear-drop shot from the middle of the lane with :45 to go to give St Mary a 50-48 lead.  Tristan Gustad hit a layup from the baseline with :27 to go to tie the game at 50-50.  Libis got a clean look at the hoop from the free-throw line with about :04 to go, but his shot rolled off the rim.  Max Herber got a hand on the ball to try to tip in the winning shot at the buzzer, but it was no good.  The two teams headed to overtime tied at 50-50.

Drew Wood gave the lead to St Mary with two made free throws with 3:38 to play in overtime.  Neither team scored over the next two minutes of overtime.  Libis made two free throws with 1:08 to extend the Cardinal lead to 54-50.  The Raiders made a three-point shot with just under a minute to play to make the score 54-53.  Libis made about a six foot shot from the baseline to extend the lead to 56-53.  After a missed shot and rebound by Weston Geraets, Luke Brown was fouled with :07.7 remaining.  Brown made both free-throws to seal the win at 58-53 for the Cardinals.

Libis led the team with a game-high 32 points.  Herber and Brown both finished with seven points in the game for St Mary.

The Cardinals (8-5) will host the Arlington Cardinals on Thursday, February 1st.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys team avenged a season-opening, 13-point loss to the Oldham-Ramona/Rutland Raiders on Saturday, January 20th.  The Cardinals defeated the Raiders 64-44 to take third place at the Dakota Valley Conference tournament at Elkton.  The Raiders had defeated St Mary 63-50 start the 2017-2018 season on December 8th.

The Raiders held a lead after the first quarter of play at 15-14.  That is when the Cardinal defense took control.  St Mary held Oldham-Ramona/Rutland to just six second-quarter points, and the Cardinals took a 28-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.  St Mary was able to extend the lead to 10 points by the end of the third quarter at 43-33.  St Mary then scored 21 fourth-quarter points to cruise to victory.

The Cardinals (7-4) will travel to Canistota to play the Hawks on Friday, January 26th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals fell to the Colman-Egan Hawks in the semifinal round of the Dakota Valley Conference tournament in Lake Preston on Thursday, January 18th.  The Hawks advanced to the finals with a 70-47 final over the Cardinals.

Colman-Egan built a lead in the first quarter that the Cardinals could not overcome.  The Hawks led by 10 points after the first quarter at 18-8.  The lead for Colman-Egan extended to 16 points by halftime at 38-22.  The Cardinals kept even with the Hawks in the third quarters as both teams scored 13 points.  Colman-Egan did outscore St Mary 19-12 in the final quarter.

St Mary shot 30% from the field in the first half, and 38% for the game.  They were 33% from beyond the three-point line and 53% from the free-throw line.  The Cardinals were out rebounded 42-15 in the game.

Luke Brown led the team with 16 points and two rebounds.  Connor Libis had 14 points and three rebounds.  Connor Kangas had six points, Max Herber had four points, Drew Wood had three points, and Weston Geraets and Ethan Geraets both finished with two points.  Colman-Egan was led by Bodee Groos and Keith Crisp with 22 points each.

The Cardinals (6-4) will play in the 3rd/4th place game of the DVC tournament against Oldham-Ramona/Rutland at 4:00 p.m. in Elkton on Saturday, January 20th.

With no time left on the clock at the end of the third overtime, Jason Cook stepped to the free-throw line with no around the lane and all eyes on him.  With the game tied 68-68, Cook had three chances to give the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals a win in the opening round of the Dakota Valley Conference tournament.  The first one bounced around the rim and fell away no good.  Cook gathered himself and stepped back to the line.  The second free throw went through the hoop, touching nothing but the net.  Cook’s made free-throw gave the Cardinals the win.  As a formality Cook had to take one more free throw, and he made it for the two-point win.  Dell Rapids St Mary defeated the Lake Preston Divers 70-68 in three overtimes at Lake Preston on Monday, January 15^th to advance the semifinals.

The Lake Preston defense frustrated the Cardinals through the first three quarters of play.  The Divers jumped to a 9-2 lead with 3:14 to go in the first quarter.  St Mary was able to end the quarter on an 8-2 run to pull within a point at 11-10 after the first quarter of play.  The Cardinals were only able to score just eight points in the second quarter, and the Divers extended their lead to 22-18 at halftime.  Both teams scored 12 points each in the third quarter, and Lake Preston continued to hold on to their four-point lead at 34-30 heading into the final quarter.

The Divers pushed the lead to 37-32 with 5:45 to play in the game, but St Mary closed the gap to one point over the next :30.  Lake Preston held a 37-36 lead with 5:15 to go.  After a timeout, the Divers outscored St Mary 7-2 over the next 2:30 of the game to extend their lead to 44-38 with 2:45 remaining.  Lake Preston looked to be in position to get the win as they lead 46-41 with 1:00 left in the game.  Weston Geraets stole an inbounds pass after a timeout and scored on a layup to make the score 46-43.  The Divers were called for a travel with :37 on the clock.  Connor Libis made a three-point shot from the top of the key with :28 to go to tie the game at 46-46.  Connar Kangas then stole the inbound pass to give the Cardinals a chance to win it in regulation.  Libis’ shot at the buzzer was no good, and the game went to overtime.

Lake Preston took an early three-point lead in the first overtime at 49-46.  The two teams traded baskets over the next couple of possessions.  St Mary took the lead with 2:12 to go at 52-51 after a made layup by Kangas.  Libis pushed the St Mary lead to 53-51 with 1:55 play.  Lake Preston tied the game with 1:20 to go at 53-53.  Even though both teams had an opportunity to take the lead late in the overtime, neither team could score, and the game went to a second overtime.  The two teams traded points over the first three minutes of the second overtime.  The game was tied 57-57 with 1:15 remaining.  Lake Preston took a 59-57 lead with 1:03 to go.  After two defensive stops, the Divers converted one-of-two free throws with :19 left to push the lead to 60-57.  On the next Cardinal possession, Libis sunk a three-point basket from the right wing with :03 remaining to tie the game at 60-60 and force a third overtime.

St Mary scored the first basket of the third overtime and was able to maintain a one-point lead over much of the period.  Geraets made a right-handed layup from the right block with 1:22 to go to give the Cardinals a 66-63 lead.  After a defensive stop, Libis went one-of-two from the free-throw line to push the lead to 67-63 with under a minute to play.  The Divers were able to get a quick layup, and then fouled Libis in the backcourt with :45 left.  Libis went one-of-two again from the line and the lead was three points.  With :25 to go, Lake Preston made a three-point shot from the right wing to tie the game at 68-68.  With the shot clock out of play, the Cardinals’ plan was to hold for the final shot.  Libis dribbled near the top of the key for about 20 seconds.  Libis passed the ball to Kangas on the left wing with :05 to go.  Kangas got penetration to the free-throw line and dished a pass to Cook who was wide open on the right wing.  Cook took the pass and launched a three-point shot at the buzzer that was off the mark, but he drew contact and a foul on the shot.  That foul sent Cook to the line where he sank two of three free throws for the win.

The Cardinals finished the game shooting 33% from the field.  Geraets finished with a team-high 23 points and 17 rebounds.  Libis had 21 points.  Luke Brown tallied 12 points.  Kangas finished with eight points.  Max Herber ended the night with four points and nine rebounds, and Cook finished with the game-winning two points.

St Mary (6-3) advances to the semifinal round of the DVC tournament and will face the Colman-Egan Hawks on Thursday, January 18^th.  The game will be played in Lake Preston at around 7:45 p.m.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.