With their lead having been cut to two points, the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinals went on a fourth quarter run led by Courtney Brown, who scored 15 of the team’s 18 fourth quarter-points, to defeat the Baltic Bulldogs 52-40 on Monday, January 27th.

Most of the first quarter was close and back-and-fourth with two ties and three lead changes.  St Mary held a slim 10-9 lead with 1:30 to play in the quarter.  They then went on an 8-0 run to end the first quarter leading 18-9.  Baltic scored the first five points of the second quarter to pull within four points at 18-14 with 5:00 to go in the half.  The Cardinals responded by holding the Bulldogs to just four points the rest of the quarter to increase their lead to 28-18 at halftime.

The St Mary lead grew to 13 points at 31-18 with 5:45 to go in the third quarter.  Baltic cut the lead into single digits throughout the quarter as both defenses played tough in the third quarter.  The Cardinals maintained a 34-26 lead heading into the final quarter.  The Baltic offense got going early in the fourth quarter, and after a made three-point shot by Kylie Schneider with 5:00 to go in the game, the Bulldogs were within two points at 36-34.  That’s when Brown took control.  Brown made 13 of her 15 points of the quarter in the final 5:00 minutes of the game to spark the Cardinals fourth-quarter run for the win.

Three players finished in double figures for St Mary.  Brown finished with a game-high 16 points.  Ella Heinitz had 13 points.  Ella Griffin finished with 10 points, and Karlie Klein had five points.  Baltic was led by Sami Polzin with nine points, Schneider with eight points, and Cami Artz with six points.

St Mary (7-7) will host the Alcester-Hudson Cubs on Thursday, January 30th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls basketball team finished fourth at the Dakota Valley Conference tournament after falling to the Arlington Cardinals 48-31 at Colman-Egan High School on Saturday, January 25th. During the course of the game, Ella Heinitz surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her high school career.

The teams traded baskets and the lead in the first four minutes of the game. Leading 8-7 with three minutes left in the quarter, Arlington scored the final four points for a 12-7 lead heading into the second quarter. The defenses played tough in the second quarter and limited the scoring through the first five and a half minutes of the quarter. Arlington led 20-14 at the 2:30 mark of the half. Arlington was able to extend their lead to 24-14 at halftime.

Arlington opened up the second half on a 9-4 run to extend their lead to 33-18 with 3:30 to play in the third quarter.  With St Mary trailing 33-19, Ella Heinitz got a defensive rebound, sprinted down the court and knocked down a jumper just inside the free-throw line at the 2:31 mark of the third quarter to hit the 1,000-point milestone for her career.  Unfortunately for St Mary, Arlington pushed the lead even higher to 38-21 by the end of the quarter.  Both teams scored 10 points each in the final quarter.

St Mary (6-7) will travel to Baltic to play the Bulldogs on Monday, January 27th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls will end up playing in the 3rd/4th place game at the Dakota Valley Conference Tournament after falling to the Colman-Egan Hawks in the semifinals on Friday, January 24th.  The Cardinals lost to the Hawks 54-32 at Estelline High School.

The Colman-Egan defense played strong through all game long as they did not allow more than 10 points in any given quarter.  After a tough runner that banked in for Ella Heinitz cut the Colman-Egan lead to three points at 9-6 with 3:35 to play in the first quarter, the Hawks went on a 10-0 run and never looked back.  They continued to push their their lead to 32-13 by halftime.  Colman-Egan then outscored St Mary 22-19 in the second half for the win.

St Mary finished game shooting just 28% (11-40) from the field and just 17% (2-12) from three-point area.  The Hawks were 51% (23-45) from the field and 50% (7-14) from three-point area.

Courtney Brown led the way for St Mary with 11 points.  Ella Griffin had five points and three rebounds.  Karlie Klein also had five points and three rebounds.  Ella Heintiz finished with four points and three steals in the game.  Sydney Klein added four points and two steals.  Mackenzie Hemmer had 13 points, and Braiden Westley had 11 points for the Hawks.

St Mary (6-6) will play the Arlington Cardinals at 4:00 p.m. in the final game of the DVC Tournament in Colman.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.

Missing some key players from the lineup, the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls basketball team rallied in the fourth quarter for a 47-38 win over the Estelline/Hendricks Redhawks in the opening round of the Dakota Valley Conference Tournament in Estelline on Tuesday, January 21st.

The Redhawks opened the game on a 6-0 run.  St Mary responded with a 9-2 run for a 9-8 lead with 2:45 to play in the opening quarter.  It was the Redhawks, though, that held a 17-14 lead at the end of the quarter.   The second quarter was close throughout.  Estelline/Hendricks held a one-point lead at 26-25 at halftime.

The two teams traded leads and were tied multiple times throughout the third quarter.  The game was tied 34-34 heading into the fourth quarter.  St Mary held the Redhawks scoreless for almost six minutes in the fourth quarter while building a nine-point lead at 43-34.  After Estelline/Hendricks pulled within five points at 43-38, the Cardinals closed out the game on a 4-0 run for the win.

Ella Heinitz had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.  Elle Griffin had eight points and nine rebounds.  Addy Gilbert also had eight points with four rebounds.  Brianna Griffin finished with six points.  Kylie Beare led Estelline/Hendricks with 17 points and eight rebounds.

St Mary (6-5) will play Colman-Egan in the semifinals on Friday, January 24th at 7:30 p.m. at Estelline High School.

The Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls basketball team made multiple rallies against the Deubrook Area Dolphins on Thursday, January 16th, and every time the Dolphins were able to hold off the Cardinals and come away with a 52-42 win.

Deubrook Area scored the first seven points of the first quarter and led 10-2 with 2:00 to play.  The Cardinals then scored the next six points to pull within two points at 10-8.  Deubrook Area ended the first quarter leading 13-8.  The Dolphins carried the momentum into the second quarter and scored the first five points to push the lead to 18-8.  The Cardinals responded and cut the lead in half at 18-13 with about 6:00 to play in the half.  Deubrook answered with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to lead 27-13 with 3:00 left in the second quarter.  Deubrook Area led 27-16 at halftime.

St Mary started the second half on a 5-0 run to cut the lead down to six points at 27-21.  The Dolphins kept a seven-to-ten point lead through much of the third quarter and led 36-26 heading into the fourth quarter.  Deubrook Area scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter and increased their lead to a game-high 17 points at 43-26 with 5:00 to go in the game.  St Mary would not go away quietly.  The Cardinals went on a 10-0 run with cut the lead to 43-36 with about 3:00 to go.  St Mary then had a good look at a three-point shot with 2:30 to play that would have cut the lead to four points, but the shot spun out of the rim.  At that point Deubrook Area was able to regain their composure and make enough free throws down the stretch for the 10-point win.

The Cardinals finished the game shooting 28% (13-46) from the field, 26% (6-23) from three-point area, and 67% (10-15) from the free throw line.  They also had 22 team rebounds and 12 steals. 

Ella Heinitz had 17 points and four rebounds.  Courtney Brown had 11 points.  Ella Griffin finished with nine points and three rebounds.  Karlie Klein had a team-high five rebounds.  Deubrook was led by Andrea Vandermeer with 15 points and Baylee Holmlund with 11 points.  Claire Olsen had 11 rebounds.

St Mary (5-5) will play Estelline/Hendricks in Estelline at 7:30 p.m. in the opening round of the DVC Tournament on Tuesday, January 21st.

After suffering a loss at home just hours earlier, the Dell Rapids St Mary Cardinal girls basketball team bounced back with a 50-45 win over the Ipswich Tigers at the Mustang Seeds/DSU Classic in Madison on Saturday, January 11th.

The Cardinals used a strong offensive performance in the first half to fuel the win. St Mary shot 56% (14-25) from the field and 58% (7-12) from three-point area in the first half to build a lead they wouldn’t lose. The Cardinals led by just three points at the end of the first quarter at 18-15, but outscored the Tigers 20-6 for a 38-21 lead at halftime.

The Tiger defense held St Mary to just 12 second half points, but the Cardinal lead was too much for Ipswich to overcome.  The Tigers outscored St Mary 10-6 in the third quarter to cut the lead to 44-31 heading into the fourth quarter.  Ipswich then outscored St Mary 14-6 in the final quarter, but wasn’t enough as the Cardinals hung on for the win.

Ella Heinitz finished the game with 19 points, five steals, and four rebounds.  Ella Griffin had nine points, five rebounds, and three assists.  Karlie Klein finished with eight points and five rebounds, and Sydney Klein added six points and five rebounds.

St Mary (5-4) will host the Deubrook Area Dolphins on Thursday, January 16th.  The game can be seen on Big Sioux Media.