A fourth-quarter rally fell just a little short for the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls basketball team.  The Cardinals trailed 41-27 heading into the final quarter.  St Mary cut the lead in half, but ran out of time as the Colman-Egan Hawks took a 50-43 win on Thursday, December 17th.

The Cardinals and Hawks traded leads in the first quarter and ultimately ended in a 13-13 tie.  Neither team was able to get into much of an offensive flow in the second quarter as the two teams combined for a total of 10 points.  Colman-Egan led by two points, 19-17, at halftime.

Colman-Egan started to make shots early in the third quarter and went on a 10-0 run to start the second half.  The Hawks led 29-17 before the Cardinals got their first point of the second half.  That 10-0 proved to be the difference in the game.

Ella Heinitz led the Cardinals with 17 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals.  Ella Griffin ended with 12 points, four rebounds, and two assists.  Karlie Klein had six points and six rebounds, and Courtney Brown finished with six points and five rebounds.  Braiden Westley had 17 points and six rebounds for Colman-Egan followed by Mackenzie Hemmer with 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

St Mary held a senior night celebration prior to the game.  This year’s seniors are Ella Griffin and Karlie Klein.

St Mary (1-1) will play the Dell Rapids Quarriers in the Entringer Classic.  The game will be held in Colman at 3:00 p.m. and can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals pushed the Colman-Egan Hawks to the limits in the second round of the Region 4B tournament on Tuesday, February 25th, but the Hawks ultimately won the game 42-32 to advance to the next round.

The Hawks got rolling on offense first scoring the first nine points of the game.  The Cardinals were held without a point until the 2:40 mark of the first quarter.  St Mary then held Colman-Egan to just two more points the rest of the quarter while cutting the lead to 11-7.  The Cardinals pulled within two points at 13-11.  The Hawks scored the next five points, but St Mary cut the lead again to 18-14 by halftime.

St Mary scored the first two points of the third quarter to again cut the lead to two points at 18-16.  Colman-Egan responded with another five-point run to push the lead to 23-16.  The Cardinals answered right back getting within two points again at 23-21 with 3:00 to go in the third quarter.  The Hawks closed out the final three minutes on a 7-1 run for a 30-22 lead heading into the fourth quarter.  Colman-Egan was able to keep a six-to-eight point lead in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter.  St Mary was able to cut the lead down to five points after a made three-point basket and the score remained 36-31 with :30 to play.  The Hawks made six free throws in the final seconds to secure the victory.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well in the game.  St Mary finished the game shooting 21% (9-44) from the field, 24% (5-21) from three-point area, and 50% (9-18) from the free-throw line.  Colman-Egan finished the game shooting 26% (13-51) from the field, 13% (2-16) from three-point area, and 67% (14-21) from the free-throw line.  Each team also had 22 turnovers in the game.

St Mary was led by Ella Griffin with eight points, five rebounds, and two steals.  Courtney Brown had seven points and four rebounds.  Ella Heinitz and Addy Gilbert both had five points each.  Colman-Egan was led by Mackenzie Hemmer with 21 points and nine rebounds.  Braiden Westley had 13 points and seven rebounds.

The Cardinals finish their 2019-2020 season with a 10-11 record.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls basketball team played their final regular season game in Howard against the Tigers on Thursday, February 20th.  The Tigers came away with a 55-24 win.

Despite not making their first field goal until halfway through the first quarter, the Cardinals kept the game close in the first quarter.  They trailed by just six points by the end of the quarter at 13-7.  St Mary scored the first two points of the second quarter and trailed by just four at 13-9.  That’s when Howard went on a big run outscoring the Cardinals 15-2 the remainder of the half.  Howard held a 28-11 lead at halftime.

St Mary scored the first three points of the third quarter to cut the lead in half at 28-14, but again the Tigers held St Mary to just two more points the rest of the quarter and built a 44-16 lead heading into the final frame.  Howard then outscored St Mary 11-8 in the fourth for the win.

Eight different players scored in the game for the Cardinals.  Ella Heinitz finished with seven points.  Courtney Brown had four points and six rebounds.  Ella Griffin had four points.  Sydney Klein, Karlie Klein, Sierra Klein, and Maya Heinitz all had two points each.  Addy Gilbert also had a point in the game.  Sydney Klein also had six rebounds.

The Cardinals finish their regular season with a 10-10 record.  They will begin Region 4B tournament play next week.  The exact day, time, and opponent for their first game will be officially announce at the end of the weekend.

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

On a night for celebration, the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals got to celebrate twice when they hosted the Elkton-Lake Benton Elks on Tuesday, February 18th. 

This was the final regular season home game for the Cardinals, which meant St Mary would celebrate their lone senior on the team, Tana Harrington.  Harrington was able to dress for the game and scored the game’s first two points in the opening seconds on an uncontested layup as a celebration for her career at Dell Rapids St Mary High School.  St Mary would also celebrate in the final seconds of the game.

After the Harrington scored her layup, St Mary allowed Elkton-Lake Benton to tie the game at 2-2 with an uncontested layup of their own.  The rest of the quarter remained close with the Elks having a slight 14-12 advantage.  St Mary opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run to lead 19-14, but Elkton-Lake Benton finished the quarter on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 21-21 entering halftime.

The Elks looked to take control of the game late in the third quarter.  They were able to pull away from St Mary just a bit as they lead 31-26 heading into the fourth quarter.  The lead extended to 33-26 early in the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals would not surrender.  They slowly chipped away at the lead and tied the game at 35-35 with 2:00 to go.  The Elks took a one point lead after a made free throw at 36-35.  Ella Heinitz was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three free throws to give the Cardinals a 38-36 lead with about a minute to play.  The Elks pulled within a point after a one-for-two trip to the free-throw line.  They made a defensive stop and then earned another trip to the free-throw line with just seconds remaining.  The first free throw was made to tie the game at 38-38.  The second one was missed, and the Cardinals grabbed the rebound, got the ball to mid-court, and then called a timeout with just three seconds left. 

After the timeout, St Mary was able to get the ball in-bounded to Brianna Griffin.  She spun at the top of the key and launched a three point shot at the buzzer that was no good.  However, officials called the Elks for a foul on Griffin as time expired, giving her three chances to win the game from the free-throw line with no time left on the clock and no around her.  The first free throw popped out of the rim, went off the backboard, and fell to the ground no good.  The second free throw went through the hoop with nothing but net, and Griffin gave the St Mary Cardinals a 39-38 win in dramatic fashion.

St Mary finished the night shooting 34% (14-41) from the field, 20% (3-15) from the free-throw line, and 57% (8-14) from the free-throw line.  Heinitz had a team-high 16 points along with five rebounds.  Courtney Brown had five points, three rebounds, and three steals.  Ella Griffin had four points, four assists, and three rebounds.  Sydney Klein had three points, eight rebounds, and four assists.  B. Griffin finished with three points.

The Cardinals (10-9) finish the regular season on Thursday, February 20th when they travel to Howard in a boys and girls double header.  The games can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

In the second meeting of the year between the Arlington and Dell Rapids St Mary girls basketball teams, Arlington again got the best of St Mary.  Arlington beat St Mary by a score of 45-41 on Friday, February 14th.

Arlington got the early lead at 7-4, but St Mary went on an 11-0 run to take a 15-7 and ended the first quarter leading 17-11.  Arlington held St Mary to just three points in the second quarter and was able to get the game tied at 20-20 heading into halftime.  St Mary regained the lead in the third quarter and led by four points heading into the final quarter at 34-30.  Neither team scored until 4:20 to go in them game when Arlington hit a three-point shot to pull within a point at 34-33.  Arlington took the lead at 37-36 with 1:11 to go and made eight free-throws down the stretch to hold on for the victory.

St Mary shot just 27% (12-44) from the field, 26% (5-19) from three-point area, and 67% (12-18) from the free-throw line.  St Mary also had 25 team rebounds and eight steals.

Ella Heinitz led the team with 14 points, six rebounds, three steals, and two assists.  Karlie Klein added 12 points, four rebounds, and three steals.  Courtney Brown and Ella Griffin both had six points each.  Brown and Sydney Klein both had seven rebounds.

St Mary (9-9) will play the Elkton-Lake Benton Elks on Tuesday, February 18th in their final home game of the regular season.

A late defensive stand and offensive rally helped give the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals a road win over the Centerville Tornadoes 47-40 on Friday, February 7th.

The first half was close with neither team gaining much of an advantage.  The Cardinals led after the first quarter by just one point at 12-11.  St Mary was able to push their lead to four points at 20-16 with 4:30 to go in the second quarter.  Centerville ended the first half on a 5-0 run for a 21-20 halftime lead.

The Tornadoes slowly built on their halftime lead and extended it five points at 32-27 with 2:00 to go in the third quarter.  That’s when the Cardinal defense took control of the game.  St Mary went on a 5-0 run to close out the third quarter to tie the game at 32-32.  The Cardinals then held Centerville scoreless in the first two and a half minutes of the fourth quarter while building a six-point lead at 38-32.  By the time Centerville scored in the fourth quarter, St Mary had gone on an 11-0 run.  St Mary extended their lead to eight points at 43-35 after a three-point shot by Ella Griffin with just over two minutes to go in the game and then held on to the lead for the win.

Ella Heinitz led the Cardinals with 18 points in the game.  Griffin finished with 11 points.

St Mary (9-8) will host the Arlington Cardinals on Friday, February 14th.

Twenty-four hours after a tough shooting night, the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls rebounded nicely with a 69-45 win on the road against the Lake Preston Divers on Friday, January 31st.  St Mary led from start to finish in the game.

The Cardinals used a huge first quarter to propel them to the victory.  St Mary led by 17 points at the end of the first quarter at 23-6.  The lead grew to 22 points at 40-18 by halftime as the Cardinals continued to dominate the game.  The Cardinals were able to cruise through the second half as they held a comfortable lead throughout the final two quarters.  They ended the second half with a 29-27 scoring margin.

The shots fell through the hoop at a much higher rate against the Divers than they did the previous night.  St Mary finished the game shooting 41% (27-66) from the field, 32% (6-19) from three-point area, and 69% (9-13) from the free-throw line.  They had a total of 37 team rebounds and 14 steals in the game.

Nine different players scored in the game for the Cardinals.  Ella Heinitz finished with 16 points, three steals and two rebounds.  Ella Griffin had 12 points, eight rebounds, and two steals.  Brianna Griffin, Maya Heinitz, and Courtney Brown all had eight points.  Sydney Klein had seven points, five rebounds and four steals, and Karlie Klein finished with six points and three rebounds.  Delaney Longville had six rebounds in the game.

The Cardinals even their season record at 8-8 on the season.  St Mary will travel to Centerville on Friday, February 7th.

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

The basketball hoops seemed to be unkind to the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals on Thursday, January 30th.  The Cardinals fell to the Alcester-Hudson Cubs 52-41 at Dell Rapids St Mary High School.  The Cardinals shot just 22% total from the field and 9% from three-point area in the game.

St Mary did start off well as they got out to an 8-1 run to open the game.  The Cubs answered with a 12-0 to finish the quarter for a 13-8 lead.  The second quarter was back and forth, and the Cardinals were able to cut into the Cubs lead.  Alcester-Hudson led 24-22 at halftime.

The first eleven minutes of the second half was again back-and-forth between the two teams.  Neither team had a lead larger than three points in the third quarter.  St Mary ended the quarter leading by one at 35-34.  The two teams were tied 37-37 and then again at 39-39 with 4:45 to play in the game.  The Cubs then went on a 7-0 run to lead 46-39 with 2:13 left.  With the Cubs leading 47-40 with 1:15 on the clock, Alcester-Hudson made enough free throws to hold onto the lead for the win.

St Mary was 12-54 from the field, 2-22 from three-point area, but 68% (15-22) from the free-throw line.  Ella Heinitz led the team with 17 points in the game.  Ella Griffin also finished in double figures with 10 points.  Courtney Brown had six points.

The Cardinals (7-8) are back in action on Friday, January 31st.  They will travel to Lake Preston for a double-header with the boys, and both games can be seen on Big Sioux Media.