Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley

Connor Libis is the new Dell Rapids St Mary High School scoring leader in school history.  Going into the home game against Estelline/Hendricks on Friday, January 8th, Libis trailed current head coach Colby Fitzgerald by just 23 points on the list.

Libis broke the record on a three-point shot in the third quarter that gave him 24 points in the game.  Libis finished the game with 27 points lead the Cardinals in their 77-52 win over the Redhawks.  Libis now has 2,298 total points in his career with 13 more regular season games left on the schedule.

St Mary had no problems with Estelline/Hendricks in the ball game.  The Cardinals hot shooting in the first half propelled them to a big lead.  St Mary led 27-12 at the end of the first half and led 52-23.  The lead grew to 73-42 by the end of the third quarter.

The Cardinals finished the game shooting right at 50% (29-58) from the field, 52% (12-23) on three-point shots, and 50% (7-14) from the free-throw line.  St Mary also had 40 team rebounds and 15 team assists.

St Mary had another 20-point scorer in the game after Libis’ 27 points.  Sam Palmer also notched 20 points and had four rebounds and four assists.  Max Herber finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.  Ashaun Roach-Valandra and Ty Brown both had six points each.

The Cardinals (5-2) will travel to Elkton to play the Elkton-Lake Benton Elks in a big Region 4B match-up on Tuesday, January 12th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys basketball team earned a big win at the Sacred Hoops Classic on Saturday, January 2nd.  Playing in the final game of the day, the Cardinals played another top Class B team in the White River Tigers.  St Mary ended the day in the late hours of the night with an 89-72 victory.

The game was fast-paced and full of action through its entirety.  The two teams combined for 46 points in the first quarter alone as the Cardinals led 25-21 at the first break.  The offensive explosion continued in the second quarter, but this time the Tigers held the upper hand in scoring.  White River led 48-45 at halftime.

St Mary was able to take advantage of a strong defensive effort in the third quarter.  The Cardinals held White River to just nine points in the third quarter, while scoring 20 of their own, and took a 65-57 lead into the fourth quarter.  The Tigers got the lead down to 70-65 with 5:45 to play, and the lead held around that five-point range for the next couple of minutes.  The Cardinals lead 77-70 with 3:57 before ending the game on a 12-2 run for the 89-72 win.

The Cardinals shot 55% (36-66) from the field, 35% (8-23) from three-point area, and 56% (9-16) from the free-throw line.  The Tigers finished the game shooting 51% (29-57) from the field, 24% (5-21) from three-point area, and 69% (9-13) from the free-throw line.  The Cardinals out-rebounded the Tigers 34-20 in the game and held a 16-10 advantage in team assists.

Connor Libis, named the St Mary player of the game, had 43 points along with three rebounds and three assists.  Ashaun Roach-Valandra had 15 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists.  John Pica had 10 points and five rebounds.  Max Herber finished with six points, six rebounds and three assists.

St Mary (4-2) will host Estelline/Hendricks on Friday, January 8th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys basketball team had no problem picking up their second win of the season on Friday, December 18th.  On a night the Cardinals recognized their nine seniors, they cruised to a 70-38 win over the Colman-Egan Hawks.

It took a quarter for the Cardinal offense to get rolling, but once they did, Colman-Egan couldn’t stop them.  St Mary only led 11-10 after the first quarter, but that lead quickly grew to 19 points by halftime at 34-15.  The Cardinals hit the 30-point running clock mark in the third quarter and led 55-25 heading into the final quarter.

Ashaun Roach-Valandra led the team with 21 points and 10 rebounds.  Sam Palmer finished with 20 points, and Connor Libis added 17 points.

The nine seniors recognized before the game were Connor Libis, Connar Kangas, Sam Palmer, Colin Winberg, Hunter Griffin, Noah Dennis, Thomas Eining, Max Herber, and Ashaun Roach-Valandra.

St Mary (2-0) will travel to De Smet on Monday, December 21st as part of a girls and boys double-header.  Both games can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

Photo taken and used with permission by Tammy Chamley, Dells City Journal

Dell Rapids St Mary and Colman-Egan met for the third time this season on Tuesday, March 3rd, this time in the second round of the Region 4B Tournament.  The Cardinals had beaten the Hawks in the previous two meetings, but on this night Colman-Egan went home victorious with a 67-49 win.

The Cardinals scored the first four points of the game and held an 11-7 lead with 3:45 to play in the first quarter.  Colman-Egan answered by scoring the next eight points of the quarter for a 15-11 lead heading into the second quarter.  The Hawks never trailed from that point.  Colman-Egan pushed the lead to seven points by the midway point of the second quarter, and then to 11 points at 32-21 at halftime.

St Mary made little spurts throughout the third quarter, but Colman-Egan would answer every time.  The Hawks were able to keep a nine-to-fifteen point lead over the Cardinals and led 48-35 heading into the fourth quarter.  St Mary scored the first three points of the fourth quarter to pull within 10 points at 48-38 with 7:19 to play in the game, but that was as close as St Mary would get.  Colman-Egan was able to break the full-court pressure for easy layups and then make their free throws down the stretch for the upset win.

The Cardinals finished the game shooting 33% (19-58) in the game, 23% (5-22) from three-point area, and 55% (6-11) from the free-throw line.  St Mary had 22 team rebounds.  Colman-Egan, however, shot 54% (22-41) from the field, 54% (7-13) from three-point area, and 64% (16-25) from the free-throw line.  The Hawks also had 38 team rebounds.

Connor Libis had 27 points, five rebounds, and three steals for St Mary.  Weston Geraets had seven points, eight rebounds, and three assists.  Max Herber finished with six points.  Colman-Egan had four players finish in double figures.  Dalton Voelker had 21 points, 19 rebounds, and five assists.  Nate Tolley had 16 points and six rebounds.  Chase Hemmer finished with 13 points and three rebounds, and Wyatt Bush had 10 points.

St Mary finishes their season with a 15-6 overall record.  Colman-Egan will advance in the tournament and play Sanborn Central/Woonsocket on Friday, March 6th in Mitchell.