The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls won their opening round game of the Dakota Valley Conference tournament 39-30 over the Oldham-Ramona/Rutland Raiders on Monday, January 16th, in Estelline.  The Cardinals held the lead after every quarter break in the game.

St Mary had just a one point lead at the end of the first quarter at 6-5.  The Cardinal offense then scored 18 points in the second quarter while holding the Raiders to just five points to take a 24-10 lead at halftime.  O-R-R was able to cut the lead to nine points at 33-24 by the end of the third quarter, but both teams scored six points as the Cardinals won to advance to the semifinals.

Kennedi Mullaney led the Cardinals with 11 points in the game.  Ella Heinitz and Lexi Klein both finished with eight points in the game.  Sydney Cook added six points.

St Mary (5-7) will play the Deubrook Area Dolphins after their 51-12 win over Estelline.  The semifinal game will be played at 8:00 p.m. in Estelline on Thursday, January 19th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals overcame a five-point halftime deficit and beat the Lake Preston Divers 48-44 on Friday, January 13th, at Dell Rapids St Mary High School.  In their second game in as many nights, the Cardinals trailed 25-20 at halftime.  However, in the third quarter, the Cardinals out scored the Divers 15-3 to take a 35-28 lead at the end of the quarter.  The Divers would out score St Mary 16-13, but wasn’t enough as the Cardinals hung on for their fourth win of the season.

Jackie Wolles finished the game with a team-high 13 points.  Ella Heinitz added 11 pionts.  Lexi Klein had 10 points, and Sydney Cook finished with eight points in a balanced scoring attack for the Cardinals.

St Mary (4-7) will be the #5 seed in the Dakota Valley Conference Tournament.  Their opening round game will be held on Monday, January 16th, against #4 seed Oldham-Ramona/Rutland at 6:00 p.m. in Estelline.  The second game will be Thursday, January 19th, in Estelline, and the final game of the tournament will be held on Saturday, January 21st, in Colman.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals scored the first sisx points of the fourth quarter and held a 34-33 lead with 4:08 to go in the game, but the Canistota Hawks closed out the game on an 11-3 run to win 44-37 on Thursday, January 12th, at Dell Rapids St Mary High School.

The Hawks led by as many as seven points in the first quarter, but the Cardinals were able to close the gap to 11-7 by the first quarter break.  St Mary rallied to tie the game at 19-19 at halftime.  St Mary led 26-25 with 4:15 to play in the third quarter before Canistota ended the third quarter on an 8-2 run to lead 33-28 heading into the final quarter.  St Mary regained the lead at 34-33 with 4:30 to play after Maddie Schwebach made a layup before Canistota made their run for the win.

Sydney Cook finished the game with nine points.  Ella Heinitz and Kennedi Mullaney both added six points.  Lexi Klein pulled down quite a few rebounds in the game for St Mary as well.

St Mary (3-7) will host Lake Preston as part of a girls and boys double-header on Friday, January 13th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls team lost two games during the week to drop their record to 3-6 on the season.  The Chester Flyers defeated St Mary on Tuesday, January 3rd, by a score of 34-39.  The Cardinals then traveled to White on Thursday, January 5th, and lost to the Deubrook Area Dolphins 26-60.

The Cardinals started the game against Chester on a 7-0 run and led the Flyers 9-3 after the first quarter.  Chester was able to go on a run of their own in the second quarter and took their first lead of the game in the second.  Both teams were back and forth in the second quarter, and it was St Mary that held a 13-12 lead at halftime.  The Cardinals pushed their lead to 27-24 by the end of the third quarter, but the Flyers outscored St Mary 15-7 in the final quarter for the win.  Jackie Wolles had 11 points in the game, and Sydney Cook added another eight points for St Mary.

St Mary then faced a very tough Deubrook Area Dolphin team on Thursday, January 5th.  The Dolphins raced to a 24-5 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back.  Deubrook Area led 42-15 at halftime and 54-19 at the end of the third quarter.  Wolles led the team with five points.  Cook and Ella Heinitz each had four points.

The Cardinals will play their next two games at home.  They will host Canistota on Thursday, January 12th, and then host Lake Preston as part of a double-header with the boys on Friday, January 13th.

Maddie Schwebach knocked down the game-winning free throw as the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals defeated Tiospa Zina 42-41 at the Swiftel Classic on Thursday, December 29th, in Brookings.  Tiospa Zina had a 10 point lead with 5:45 to go in the third quarter, but that was also the last field goal they would make.  The Cardinals took the lead at 32-31 at the end of the third quarter.  St Mary had a six point lead with 4:42 to go in the game, and held on for the win.

St Mary finished 12-56 (21%) from the field, 0-2 from three-point area, and 18-35 (51%) from the free-throw line.  The Cardinals had a total of 48 team rebounds, 20 steals, but also turned the ball over 23 times.  Tiospa Zina shot 27% from the field and 64% from the free-throw line and turned the ball over 28 times.

Lexi Klein finished with a double-double in the game with 13 points and 11 rebounds.  Jackie Wolles had a team high 14 points in the game along with seven steals.  Schwebach finished with the game-winning point and also pulled down six rebounds.  Ella Heinitz had six points.

The Cardinals (3-4) will host Chester Area on Tuesday, January 3rd.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media

The Colman-Egan defense forced 22 turnovers and beat the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals 46-29 at the Entringer Classic in Colman on Friday, December 23rd.  The Hawks applied a full court pressure defense the entire game that lead to 16 steals.

Colman-Egan led 15-6 after the first quarter.  The Hawks added to the lead in the second quarter and led 23-13 at halftime.  It was the third quarter where the Hawks pulled away.  Colman-Egan outscored St Mary 19-5 in the third quarter to take a 42-18 lead.

The Cardinals finished the game shooting 10-37 (27%) from the field, 2-12 (17%) from three-point area, and 7-17 (41%) from the free-throw line.  St Mary finished with 35 team rebounds, five team assists, and four steals.

Jackie Wolles finished with nine points to lead the team.  Sydney Cook added eight points, and Ella Heinitz and Maddie Schwebach both finished with four points.  Cook finished with 10 rebounds.  Kennedi Mullaney had six rebounds, and Lexi Klein and Cassy Geraets both had five rebounds.

The Cardinals (2-4) will play Tiospa Zina at the Swiftel Classic in Brookings on Thursday, December 29th, at 1:45 p.m.

The De Smet Bulldog defense held the Cardinal offense to just 12 points in the final three quarters on their way to a 62-24 win on Monday, December 19th, in De Smet.

The Bulldogs led by just three points at 15-12 at the end of the first quarter.  However, De Smet outscored St Mary 18-3 in the second quarter to take a 33-15 lead.  De Smet then extended the lead to 50-17 by the end of the third quarter.

St Mary shot 11-33 (33%) from the field, 0-3 from the three-point area, and 2-4 (50%) from the free throw line.  The Cardinals had 26 total rebounds, 10 steals, but turned the ball over 25 times.  The Bulldogs shot 23-53 (39%) from the field in the game.

Jackie Wolles led the team with seven points.  Ella Heinitz added six points.  Maddie Schwebach and Kennedi Mullaney both had four points.  Wolles, Mullaney, and Schwebach all had three rebounds in the game.

St Mary (2-3) will play Colman-Egan at the Entringer Classic in Colman on Friday, December 23rd, at 2:00 p.m.   The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls have won their last two games to even their record at 2-2 on the season.  St Mary earned a victory over Ellsworth, MN on Tuesday, December 13th, and then defeated Estelline on Friday, December 15th.

The Cardinals defeated Ellsworth, MN 38-36 in double overtime.  Haley Michel led the way in scoring with 12 points on four made three-pointers.  Sydney Cook had eight points and six rebounds.  Kennedi Mullaney led the Cardinals in rebounding in the game with nine.  St Mary did have a 24-14 lead at halftime in the game.

St Mary was then able to hold off a fourth-quarter rally be Estelline for a 34-28 win.  The Cardinals led at every quarter break in the game.  St Mary was leading 12-8 at the end of the first quarter, 19-11 at halftime, and 26-17 at the end of the third quarter.  Estelline scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to make the score 26-23, and they were able to get within two points a couple of times in the quarter.  However, the Cardinals were able to hit enough big shots and free throws down the stretch for the win.  Cook finished the game with 12 points.  Jackie Wolles had 11 points, and Cassy Geraets added five points.

The Cardinals are scheduled to play Colman-Egan at the Entringer Classic in Colman on Saturday, December 17th, at 1:45 p.m.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls basketball team lost their first two games to open up 2016-2017 season, with both games being very close.

The Cardinals traveled to Alcester to play the Alcester-Hudson Cubs to start the season on Tuesday, December 6th.  After getting behind early, the Cardinals rallied to take the lead late in the game.  The Cubs were able to tie the game and force overtime, and Alcester-Hudson defeated St Mary 43-38 in overtime.  Kennedi Mullaney finished the night with 13 points and four rebounds.  Jackie Wolles had 10 points, three rebounds, and four steals.  Lexi Klein added six points.  Sydney Cook and six rebounds, and Cassy Geraets had three steals.

St Mary then had their first home game of the year as they hosted the Oldham-Ramona/Rutland Raiders on Thursday, December 8th.  The Raiders won a close game 43-40.  Mullaney had 10 points in the contest, and Klein and Wolles each had six points each.

St Mary (0-2) will travel to Ellsworth, MN on Tuesday, December 13th.

The Elkton-Lake Benton Elks pulled away from the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals in the fourth quarter for a 55-40 win in the District 7B semifinals on Thursday, February 25th, in Elkton.  The Elks led by just one point at the end of the first quarter at 12-11.  They pushed that lead to 27-22 at halftime.  The Cardinals cut the lead down to just four at 38-34 at the end of the third quarter, but Elkton-Lake Benton outscored St Mary 17-6 in the final quarter to advance in the tournament.

Jackie Wolles had 16 points, while Sydney Cook finished with 14 points for St Mary.  Elkton-Lake Benton was led by Morgan Carmody with 18 points and Callie Otkin with 14 points.

The Cardinals finish their season with a season record of 6-15.