The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys played in their second straight overtime game, third this season, on Friday, January 4th in De Smet.  This time, however, the Cardinals could not come away with the victory as the De Smet Bulldogs handed the Cardinals their first loss of the season by a score of 78-75 in double overtime.

The Bulldogs led for most of the game which started in the first quarter.  De Smet led 21-9 at the first quarter break.  The Cardinal offense found some momentum in the second quarter as St Mary was able to cut into the lead.  De Smet led 34-27 at halftime.

De Smet kept their lead throughout the third quarter.  They were able to increase the lead to eight points at 49-41 heading into the final quarter.  Trailing by six points at 59-53 with under three minutes to play in the game, the Cardinals started to make their move.  Noah Dennis pulled the Cardinals within three points at 59-56 with 1:04 to play after a made free throw.  Connor Libis went from one end of the court to the other and made a layup to pull St Mary within a point at 59-58 with :28 to go.  A foul put De Smet on the free throw line, and the Bulldogs made two free throws with :18 to go for a 61-58 lead.  Libis then drained a three-point shot from the right wing with :03 to go to tie the game at 61-61 to force overtime.

Libis then hit a free-throw line jumper with 3:10 to go in the first overtime to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game at 63-61.  The two teams traded baskets over the next minute, and the game was tied 65-65 with 2:10 to play.  De Smet took the lead a three-point shot with about a minute to go at 69-68.  Ethan Geraets went one for two from the free throw line with :41 to play in the first over time to tie the game at 69-69.  After a defense stop for the Cardinals, St Mary had a chance to win the game.  With :07 on the clock, Libis drove to the top of the key and launched a three point shot.  The shot was off, and Dennis had a clean look at the offense rebound and put back, but the ball spun out of the hoop at the buzzer.  The two teams were headed to double-overtime tied 69-69.

The Bulldogs took a 72-69 lead early in the second overtime on a three-point play.  Libis pulled the Cardinals within a point at 72-71 after two made free throws moments later, but that was as close as St Mary could get in the second overtime period.  The Bulldogs maintained a two-to-four point lead throughout much of the remainder of the overtime period.  De Smet led 78-75 with :28 to go, but the game-tying three point shot was no good.

St Mary (6-1) will travel to White to play Deubrook Area on Friday, January 11th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals boys basketball got their second overtime win of the season on Saturday, December 29th at the 25th Annual Michael J. Entringer Scholarship Classic in Brookings.  The Cardinals defeated the Castlewood Warriors 58-55 for their sixth win in a row.

Besides the second quarter, both teams found the offensive side of the basketball to be very difficult throughout the game.  Castlewood held the lead for most of the first half.  The Warriors led 13-8 after the first quarter.  The offenses for both teams found rhythm in the second quarter.  St Mary was able to outscore Castlewood 20-17 in the quarter, but the Warriors still led by two points at halftime, 30-28.

A defensive change to zone in the second half by the Cardinals caused problems for the Castlewood offense.  The Warriors were held to just six third quarter points, and St Mary took a 41-36 lead into the fourth quarter.  The Cardinals were held to just eight points in the quarter, but led 49-47 with under a minute to play. Brandon Benike scored on a layup with :29 to play to tie the game at 49-49.  The Cardinals held for the final shot of regulation, but a deep three was no good, and the game went to overtime.

Castlewood scored the first four points in the first minute of overtime to take a 53-49 lead.  St Mary didn’t get their first field goal of overtime until 1:45 to go after a rebound by Connar Kangas and outlet to Weston Geraets for a layup.  After a defensive stop, Connor Libis hit a baseline jumper with under a minute to play to tie the game 53-53.  W. Geraets got a steal and layup ten seconds later to give the Cardinals the lead at 55-53.  The Cardinals got another back-court steal, and Max Herber was fouled with :11 to go after an offensive rebound.  Herber made both free throws to push the lead to 57-53.  Castlewood got a quick score on a layup with :06 to go to make the score 57-55.  St Mary was able to get the ball in play, and Herber was fouled again.  This time Herber went one-for-two from the line to make the score 58-55.  A last second shot in front of the Warrior bench for Castlewood was short, and the Cardinals held on for the win.

Libis, named the game’s MVP, finished with 25 points, eight rebounds, and three steals.  W. Geraets had 16 points and eight rebounds.  Herber finished with 12 points, and five rebounds.  Castlewood was led by Fenike with 23 points and 13 rebounds.

St Mary (6-0) will travel to De Smet for a girls and boys double-header on Friday, January 4th.  Both games can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

Four days after a near upset in Chester, the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys had no trouble winning their fifth in a row to start the season on Friday, December 21st.  The Cardinals controlled the entire game over the Estelline/Hendricks Redhawks at Dell Rapids St Mary High School.  St Mary defeated the Redhawks 69-33.

The Cardinals took a big lead in the first quarter of 21-10.  The defense for St Mary held the Redhawks to just four points, and St Mary grew the lead to 48-14 by halftime.  The halftime lead of over thirty points meant a running clock for the second half.  The Cardinals outscored Estelline/Hendricks 21-19 in the second half.

Three players scored in double figures for St Mary.  Connor Libis finished with 28 points.  Weston Geraets had 12 points, and Sam Palmer finished with 10 points.  Estelline/Hendricks was led by Marcis Hausman with 10 points.

St Mary (5-0) will play the Castlewood Warriors at the Entringer Classic in Brookings on Saturday, December 29th.  Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m., and the game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

Missed free throws and last second heroics were all part of an exciting win for the Dell Rapids St. Mary Cardinals over the Chester Area Flyers on Monday, December 17th.  The Cardinals rallied from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter for a 61-59 overtime win at Chester Area High School.

The Cardinals held the early lead in the game after the first quarter.  St. Mary led by three points at 20-17.  Chester Area then held St. Mary to just six points in the second quarter and took a 37-26 lead into halftime.  Both teams scored 15 points in the third quarter, and the Flyers still held their 11-point lead at 52-41 heading into the final quarter.

St. Mary’s defense did hold the Flyers to just three points in the final quarter, but missed free throws by Chester Area left the door open for the Cardinals late in the game.  Chester led 52-45 with two minutes to go in the game.  Connor Libis knocked down a baseline jumper with 1:45 to cut the lead to five points.  With 1:25 to go, Bayden Schneider made one of two free throws to make it a 53-47 game.  Libis made a long three-point shot moments later to cut the lad to 53-50.  After a steal, Ethan Geraets made two free throws with under a minute to go to pull the Cardinals within a point, 53-52.

The Flyers were called for an offensive foul while in-bounding the basketball, but the Cardinals couldn’t capitalize.  A missed shot was rebounded by Chester.  E. Geraets was called for a reach-in foul on the inbound, but also took an elbow to the jaw which resulted in a flagrant foul by Chester.  Schneider made both free throws awarded to him because of a bonus, and Libis went one of two on the flagrant foul free throws.  Chester led 55-52 with :31 to go.  A missed shot by St. Mary went out of bounds to Chester with :17.5 to go.  The Cardinals fouled six seconds later sending Brock Wages to the free throw line.  Wages missed both free throws, which kept the lead at three points.  Connar Kangas was given the ball at the top of the key with :03 to go, took two dribbles to the right wing, and launched a three-point shot at the buzzer that went in tying the game at 55-55.

St. Mary took the early lead at 57-55 in overtime.  Chester tied the game 57-57 with two free throws.  Libis hit another baseline jumper to give the Cardinals the lead again at 59-57.  Chester went one of two from the free-throw line with just under 3:00 to go to make it a one-point game.  Weston Geraets gave St. Mary a two-point lead after a one-for-two trip to the free-throw line.  Neither team scored again until :55 to go when Chester again made one of two free throws to make it a 60-59 game.  With :09 to go, Stratton Eppard was sent to the free-throw line on a close block/charge call that went against the Cardinals.  Eppard missed both free throws, and W. Geraets grabbed the rebound and was fouled.  W. Geraets made one of two free throws, and the Cardinals held on for a 61-59 win after a missed last-second three point shot by the Flyers.

Chester finished the game with zero field goals in the fourth quarter and overtime.  The Flyers finished the game shooting 18-32 from the free-throw line, while the Cardinals were 11-18.

Libis had 21 points in the game to lead all scorers.  Kangas finished with 12 points, and W. Geraets added 11 points.  W. Geraets also led the team in rebounds with six in the game.  Sam Palmer had a team-high four assists.  The Flyers were led in scoring by Chris Mohr with 18 points.

St. Mary (4-0) will look to remain unbeaten when they host Estelline/Hendricks on Friday, December 21st.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys basketball team finished a three-game home stand to start the season with a 66-40 win over the Oldham-Ramona/Rutland Raiders on Friday, December 14th.  The Cardinals won all three home games by an average of 19 points.

St Mary took control of the game early and never looked back.  The Cardinals led 14-2 after the first three minutes of play.  St Mary led 18-5 after the first quarter.  The Raiders were able to get some offense going in the second quarter.  Oldham-Ramona/Rutland scored 13 points in the first four minutes of the second quarter, but the Cardinal offense kept rolling as well and still held a 15-point lead.  St Mary’s defense clamped down in the final four minutes of the half by only allowing four more points.  The Cardinals led 41-22 at halftime.  St Mary pushed the lead to over 30 points at 61-30 with 2:40 to go in the third quarter, which triggered the running clock for the remainder of the game.

Connor Libis finished the game with 32 points and eight rebounds.  Max Herber added 17 points in the win.  Oldham-Ramona/Rutland was led by Brandon Trygstad who finished with 23 points.

The Cardinals (3-0) will travel to Chester on Monday, December 17th for a double-header with the girls.  Both games can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys only allowed an average of 11 points per quarter on their way to a 61-44 win over the Mitchell Christian Golden Eagles on Tuesday, December 11th at Dell Rapids St Mary High School.

The first quarter was back and forth.  Neither team was able to get a large lead.  The Cardinals ended the first quarter with a 12-10 lead.  St Mary pushed their lead to 24-16 with 2:30 to play in the half.  The Golden Eagles cut the lead to 24-20 with just over a minute to play, but the Cardinals scored seven points in less than a minute to take a 31-20 lead into halftime.

The Golden Eagles stayed within about 10 points for much of the third quarter.  St Mary finally went on a little run and led 45-27 with 2:23 to play in the quarter.  The Cardinals led by 16 points at 47-31 after three quarters of play.  St Mary then scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to extend their lead to a game-high 23 points at 54-31 before closing the game out in victory.

St Mary had three players finish in double figures.  Connor Libis had a game-high 15 points.  Max Herber finished with 11 points, and Weston Geraets tallied 10 points.  Ty Vander Pol finished with 11 points to lead Mitchell Christian.

The Cardinals (2-0) will host Oldham-Ramona/Rutland on Friday, December 14th in the final game of their three-game home stand to start the season.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Cardinals boys basketball team opened their 2018-2019k season with a home win over the Colman-Egan Hawks on Friday, December 7th.  During the game, Connor Libis hit the 1,000 point mark for his career!

The Hawks jumped out to an early 9-3 lead, but St Mary went on a 15-2 run to close out the quarter for an 18-11 quarter-break lead.  The Cardinals were able to keep a four-to-seven point through the entire second quarter.  St Mary went to the locker room leading 33-25 at halftime.

With the Cardinals leading 39-27 in the third quarter, Libis knocked down a three-point shot with 5:09 on the clock to earn his 1,000th point of his career.  The basket gave St Mary a 15-point lead at 42-27.  The Cardinals led by 17 points at the end of third quarter at 54-37.  St Mary ended the game at 70-56 for the win.

Libis led the team with 31 points.  Sam Palmer finished with 18 points.  Dalton Voelker had 25 points, while Nate Tolley had 16 points to lead Colman-Egan.

St Mary (1-0) will host Mitchell Christian on Tuesday, December 11th in a double-header with the girls.  Both games can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal boys basketball team saw their season come to an end at the Mitchell Corn Palace in the quarterfinals of the Region 4B tournament on Tuesday, February 27th.  The Cardinals fell to the Ethan Rustlers 68-60 in the second game of the day.

The two teams went back and forth in the first quarter with neither team getting a lead bigger than four points.  St Mary tied the game at 13-13 with just a few seconds remaining, but the Rustlers were able to get the ball up the court and made a last second shot to take a 15-13 lead after the first quarter.  The Rustlers grew their lead to 27-18 with about 3:25 to go in the first half.  St Mary got the lead down to two points at 31-29 with about 2:00 left in the quarter.  Ethan scored the final basket of the half and led 33-29 at halftime.

The Cardinals got the lead down to one point at 38-37 with about 4:40 remaining in the third quarter.   Ethan responded with an 11-4 run over the remainder of the quarter to push their lead to eight points at 49-41 heading into the fourth quarter.  After the Ruslters had a 55-43 lead early in the fourth quarter, St Mary went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to five points at 55-50 with just under 3:00 to go in the game.  Still at a five-point lead at 57-52 with 1:23 to go, Ethan kept making free throws down the stretch.  The Cardinals got within three points at 61-58 after a layup by Connor Libis with :40 to go, the Rustlers responded with seven more made free throws for the win.

St Mary finished the game shooting 46% from the field and 75% from the free-throw line.  The Cardinals had 20 team rebounds.  Libis led the team in scoring with 27 points.  Weston Geraets had 16 points.  Max Herber finished with 11 points and six rebounds.

The Cardinals season ends with an overall record of 11-10

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals will have a winning record for the first time since the 2007-2008 season thanks to a 65-60 win over the Baltic Bulldogs on Friday, February 16th at Baltic High School.  The win also ended a short two-game losing streak.

St Mary offense was on fire to start the game.  The Cardinals scored 21 first-quarter points on their way to a 21-10 lead.  The lead grew to 13 points by halftime at 36-23.  St Mary’s offense continued to roll through the first three minutes of the third quarter when their lead grew to 20 points at 49-29 with 5:00 to go in the quarter.  Baltic then made a run of their own.  The Bulldogs went on a 12-0 run to cut the lead to eight points at 49-41.  St Mary ended the third quarter with a 53-44 lead.  The Cardinals got their lead back to double digits at 60-48.  Baltic again made a run, this time a 10-2 run, to pull within four points with :30 to play.  The Bulldogs again had it down to four points at 64-40 with :07.5 points, but a late free throw sealed the victory for the Cardinals.

Three players finished in double figures.  Luke Brown had 19 points and two blocked shots.  Connor Libis also had 19 points along with five rebounds and two steals.  Max Herber finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.  Sam Muston led Baltic with 19 points and 11 rebounds.  Jon Wilhelmsen added 18 points for the Bulldogs.

St Mary finishes the regular season with an 11-9 record.  The Cardinals will begin Region 4B tournament play on Monday, February 26th.