This night belonged to Ashaun Roach-Valandra.  Prior to tip-off against the Howard Tigers, Roach-Valandra was recognized as this year’s Sacred Hoops Kernit Grimshaw Athlete of Character award winner.  In front of a packed gym and family sitting front row, Roach-Valandra had night folks won’t soon forget.

The match-up between the St Mary Cardinals and Howard Tigers on Thursday, February 11th had plenty of hype.  Both teams are atop Region 4B and are two of the top teams in Class B boys basketball.  The game lived up to the hype.

The two teams ended the first quarter tied 12-12.  Howard gained a slight advantage in the second quarter and led 31-25 by halftime.  Both Roach-Valandra and Sam Aslesen of Howard were in double figures at that point in the game.

St Mary opened the second half on an 11-2 run for a 36-33 lead with 4:40 to play in the third quarter.  Howard responded with a quick 4-0 run to go back in front 37-36.  Then St Mary turned the game in their favor.  The Cardinals went on an 8-0 run for a 44-37 lead.  The lead grew to 50-41 by the end of the third quarter.  Howard tried to rally throughout the fourth quarter, but every time the Tigers got within three or four points, the Cardinals had an answer and eventually hung on for a 66-61 victory.

The Cardinals finished the game shooting 45% (25-56) from the field, 39% (7-18) from three-point area, and 50% (9-18) from the free-throw line, but the night was Roach-Valandra’s.

Roach-Valandra finished with 39 points and seven rebounds.  Sam Palmer added nine points, five assists, four steals, and three rebounds.  Connor Libis had eight points, seven rebounds, and six assists.  John Pica finished with five points and four rebounds.  Aslesen finished with 31 points for Howard.

St Mary (14-3) will play Canistota at the DWU Classic in Mitchell on Saturday, February 13th.  Tip-off is 6:00 p.m. and the game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys won their eighth straight game after a 79-41 victory over the Arlington Cardinals in Arlington on Monday, February 8th.

Arlington held a six-point lead in the first two minutes of the game, but that lead was short lived.  St Mary ended the first quarter leading 23-13 and continued to add to the lead at the end of each quarter.  The lead grew to 39-24 by halftime.  St Mary put the game out of reach in the third quarter.  They outscored Arlington 26-11 for a 65-35 lead after three quarters of play.

St Mary shot 54% (30-56) from the field, 45% (9-20) from three-point area, and 91% (10-11) from the free-throw line.  St Mary out-rebounded Arlington 37-28 and forced 17 Arlington turnovers while only committing eight themselves.

Three players had double-figures for St Mary.  Connor Libis had 24 points, four steals, two rebounds, and two assists.  Sam Palmer finished with 14 points, five rebounds, and four steals.  Ty Brown had 11 points and two rebounds.  Max Herber added eight points and five rebounds, and Ashaun Roach-Valandra had six points and four rebounds.

St Mary (13-3) will have a big Region 4B match-up with the Howard Tigers at home on Thursday, February 11th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

For the second game in a row the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys used a second quarter rally to spark a win.  The Cardinals went on a 15-0 run to start the second quarter against Lake Preston Divers to help them to a 79-56 win on Thursday, February 4th.

The game was fairly even for the other three quarters of the game.  St Mary had a slim two-point lead after the first quarter at 15-13.  The Cardinals, after their 15-0 run to start the second quarter, pushed the lead to 30-13.  The first half ended with St Mary leading 39-21.

The Cardinals were able to extend their lead to 25 points in the third quarter at 52-27.  The Divers went on a 10-0 run of their own and cut the lead to 52-37.  St Mary entered the fourth quarter leading 56-38.  The Cardinals maintained their lead and outscored Lake Preston 23-18 in the final quarter. 

St Mary shot 42% (29-69) from the field, 32% (10-31) from three-point area, and 65% (11-17) from the free-throw line.  Lake Preston was 32% (19-60) from the field, 6% (1-18) from three-point area, and 71% (17-24) from the free-throw line.  The Cardinals out-rebounded the Divers 39-33 and forced 18 turnovers.

Four players finished in double figures for the Cardinals.  Connor Libis had 25 points, five assists, four rebounds, and two steals.  Ashaun Roach-Valandra had 15 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.  John Pica had 12 points and eight rebounds, and Sam Palmer finished with 12 points, five steals, four blocks, three assists, and two rebounds.

The Cardinals (12-3) will travel to Arlington on Monday, February 8th for their next game.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals used a 16-0 run in the second quarter to fuel a 64-51 win over the Garretson Blue Dragons in Garretson on Monday, February 1st.  The win extended the current winning streak to six games for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals and Blue Dragons played even for three quarters of the game.  The opening quarter was back-and-forth and ended in a 13-13 tie.  Garretson had a one point lead at 16-15 with seven minutes to go in the second quarter, but St Mary then went on a 16-0 run and ended the first half leading 31-18.

That run in the second quarter proved to be the difference in the game.  Garretson cut the lead to single digits in the third quarter as St Mary led 50-41 heading into the fourth quarter.  The Cardinals were able to keep the lead and extend it back to double digits in the fourth quarter.

St Mary shot 39% (22-57) from the field, 23% (6-26) from three-point area, and 74% (14-19) from the free-throw line.  The Cardinals out-rebounded the Blue Dragons 43-28.

Ashaun Roach-Valandra finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and four steals.  Connor Libis had 13 points and five rebounds.  Max Herber added 13 points and nine rebounds.  Sam Palmer also had double figures with 12 points, six rebounds, four blocks, and three assists.

The Cardinal (11-3) will host Lake Preston on Thursday, February 4th.  The varsity game will tip-off about 6:00 p.m. and can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

It wasn’t easy for the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals, but they found a way to win with timely shots over the Deubrook Area Dolphins on Tuesday, January 26th.

Much of the game was played within just a few points of each other as the two teams traded shot for shot.  The Cardinals were able to get a one point lead by the end of the first quarter, 14-13.  St Mary added to that lead, but by only two points, and led 35-32 at halftime.

The Cardinals seemed to be getting on a roll offensively in the first half of the third quarter.  They went on an 11-3 run to lead 46-35 with 4:15 to play in the quarter.  The Dolphins responded with an 11-5 run the rest of the quarter to cut the lead to 51-46.  Deubrook climbed their way to a single-possession deficit at 57-54 with 3:00 to play.  The lead was just four points for St Mary, 62-58, with 1:00 on the clock, and the Cardinals were able to make a couple of free throws and get a game-sealing steal and layup to win 66-58.

St Mary was 40% (19-47) from the field, 45% (9-20) from three-point area, and 68% (19-28) from the free-throw line.  The Dolphins were 47% (24-51) from the field, just 19% (3-16) from three-point area, and 50% (7-14) from the free-throw line.  Deubrook held the rebounding advantage at 31-22.

Connor Libis finished with 35 poitns, four rebounds, three steals, and two assists.  John Pica had nine points and five rebounds.  Sam Palmer also had nine points along with three rebounds and two blocks.  Max Herber added seven points and five rebounds, while Ashaun Roach-Valandra had six points and four rebounds.

The Cardinals (10-3) will be in Garretson on Monday, February 1st.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys basketball team defended their Dakota Valley Conference tournament title and won for the second straight year after a 54-49 win over the Elkton-Lake Benton Elks in Elkton on Saturday, January 23rd.  This will be the final Dakota Valley Conference tournament.

The Cardinals grabbed an early lead in the first quarter and were able to hang on throughout the game.  St Mary scored the first seven points of the game and held a 17-9 lead after the first quarter.  The lead grew to 21-9 with 6:45 to play in the first half, but the Elks finished the quarter with a 14-6 advantage to cut the lead to 27-23 at halftime.

The Elks were able to tie the game at 33-33 with 4:08 to play, and then took a two point lead into the fourth quarter, 39-37.  St Mary went on an 8-3 run in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter for a 45-42 lead.  The game remained close throughout the rest of the game.  With 1:45 to play, the Cardinals held a 51-49 lead before scoring the final three points to secure the win.

Connor Libis had 24 points, three rebounds, and three assists.  Ashaun Roach-Valandra had 11 points and seven rebounds.  Max Herber added seven points along with 11 rebounds.

St Mary (9-3) will play Deubrook Area in White on Tuesday, January 26th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys basketball team is headed back to the Dakota Valley Conference Tournament championship game.  The Cardinals defeated the Estelline/Hendricks Redhawks 74-38 in the semifinals in Colman on Friday, January 22nd.

The Cardinals got out to a very fast start in the first quarter as they got out to a big 29-6 lead by the end of the quarter.  That fast start helped them cruise to the victory.  St Mary led 48-14 at halftime.  Estelline/Hendricks made a little run in the third quarter.  The Redhawks outscored St Mary 17-11 to make the score 59-31 with 4:00 to play in the third quarter.  The Cardinals then held the Redhawks to just seven more points the remainder of the game.

St Mary shot 54% (29-54) from the field, 32% (6-19) from three-point area, and 67% (10-15) from the free-throw line.  They out rebounded Estelline/Hendricks 38-13 and forced 12 turnovers, 11 of those were steals.

Connor Libis had 21 points, seven rebounds and four steals.  Max Herber finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, two steals, and two assists.   Ashaun Roach-Valndra added 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists.  Nic Gaspar had eight points, and Ty Brown finished with seven points.

St Mary (8-3) will look to defend their DVC tournament title against Elkton-Lake Benton on Saturday, January 23rd.  The game will tip-off at 6:00 p.m. in Elkton and can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys basketball team took a step toward repeating as DVC Conference Tournament champs after an opening round win over the Colman-Egan Hawks on Tuesday, January 19th.  The Cardinals defeated the Hawks 83-25.

The Cardinals dominated in every phase of the game.  St Mary finished the game shooting 53% from the field, out rebounded the Hawks 35-21, and forced 19 turnovers.  The Cardinals turned those 19 turnovers into 25 points.  They also had 30 points in the paint and 19 second chance points.

St Mary led 31-6 after the first quarter, 48-14 at halftime, and 71-20 at the end of the third quarter.

Connor Libis led the team in scoring with 21 points.  Sam Palmer had 20 points, including six made three-point shots, and five rebounds.  Max Herber had nine points and seven rebounds.  Ty Brown also had nine points along with four rebounds, and three steals.   Ashaun Roach-Valandra added eight points, four rebounds, and four steals.

St Mary (7-3) will play in the semifinals on Friday, January 22nd at 7:30 p.m. in Colman.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys basketball team bounced back into the win column with a big 85-29 win over the Oldham-Ramona/Rutland Raiders on Saturday, January 16th.  The game got moved to Saturday from Friday due to weather.

St Mary lead from start to finish in the game as they build a 22-6 lead by the end of the first quarter.  The lead grew to 34 points at 48-14 by halftime.  The game was played with a running clock in the second half as the Cardinals outscored the Raiders 37-15 in the second half.

The Cardinals did anything they wanted on the offense end, and their defensive rebounding also led to some easy fast break points.  St Mary finished the game shooting 66% (38-58) from the field, 31% (4-13) from three-point area, and 62% (5-8) from the free-throw line.  The Raiders, meanwhile, were only 18% (9-50) from the field, 9% (2-23) from three-point area, and 56% (9-16) from the free-throw line.  St Mary out rebounded the Raiders 39-18 in the game.

Four players finished in double figures for St Mary.  Connor Libis had 23 points, six rebounds, three steals, and three assists.  Max Herber had 14 points, five rebounds, and two assists.  Sam Palmer finished with 12 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and two blocked shots.  John Pica added 11 points and seven rebounds.  Ashaun Roach-Valandra had eight points and eight rebounds, while Ty Brown had seven points.

The Cardinals (6-3) will play Colman-Egan in the opening round of the Dakota Valley Conference tournament on Tuesday, January 19th at 7:30 p.m. in Colman.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Elkton-Lake Benton Elks took the lead late in the game and hung on for a 76-70 win over the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals in Elkton on Tuesday, January 12th in a battle of teams near the top of Region 4B.

The Elks held the first quarter break lead of the game.  Elkton-Lake Benton led 20-15 after the first eight minutes of the ball game.  St Mary went on a 10-0 run in the first minute and a half in the second quarter for a 25-20 lead, and the Cardinals held a 36-29 lead at halftime.

St Mary kept the lead throughout the entire third quarter.  They were able to keep about a three-to-five point lead and held a 52-47 advantage heading into the final quarter.  The Elks regained the lead at 58-57 with 4:47 to play after a three-point shot by Miles Harming.  It was a lead they wouldn’t lose again.  Connor Libis tied the game 60-60 with 3:56 to go, and Ashaun Roach-Valandra tied it again at 62-62 with 3:26.  The Elks were able to slowly pull away after that point as multiple Cardinals started to foul out of the game.

Three players finished in double figures for St Mary.  Libis led all scorers in the game with 32 points.  Roach-Valandra ended with 23 points, and Sam Palmer had 10 points.  Noah Dennis had three points, and John Pica had two points.  Elkton-Lake Benton was led by Matthew Nibbe with 20 points, Mason Gaumer and Aiden Erickson with 14 points, and Harming with 13 points.

The Cardinals (5-3) will host the Oldham-Ramona/Rutland Raiders on Friday, January 15th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.