It was a goal they have wanted for a lifetime.
Now, the Dell Rapids St. Mary Cardinals have finally reached the summit, a Class B State Tournament.
“When you have big group of seniors you want them to experience the ultimate and that is always the state tournament,” Head Coach Colby Fitzgerald said. “And getting that opportunity is always special, but we have work to do and hopefully we can go out on a high note.”
The Cardinals faced a few trials early on, losing to De Smet and Dell Rapids before the Christmas break was over, and losing to Elkton-Lake Benton halfway through January. But those losses turned into victories, as the Cardinals used them to get better defensively, and perform at a state-tournament level. After the losses, Coach Fitzgerald told his players to approach each game as though they were playing in the postseason.
The result?
An eight-game winning streak that included victories against Elkton-Lake Benton and Howard, and the Cardinals have now won 13 of their last 14 games. DRSM is quite possibly playing their best basketball at the right time.
“We had a lot of new kids in the rotation early on. One thing we have tried to learn from our mistakes, but we are kind of on a roll here now, and hopefully we can keep it going here,” Fitzgerald said. “We try to approach each game as a postseason game. The players took the challenge and now we are running with it.”
To even enter the Sodak 16 from Region 4B is remarkable. The Cardinals were #10 in the state for seed points, but #4 Howard, #8 Hanson, and #11 Elkton-Lake Benton all reigned from the tough district. DRSM, however, was the only team from the region to reach the state tournament.
Now, the Cardinals will face a tough White River team. DRSM won against them by 17 points back on January 2nd, but Coach Fitzgerald knows that this will be a tough matchup.
“Hopefully we can say we are better on the defensive end of things at this point in the season,” Fitzgerald said of the upcoming game. “We have been priding ourselves on the defensive end and hopefully that can translate to the state tournament.”
And no matter what the outcome of the games are this tournament, the Cardinals are going to enjoy their time at the top of South Dakota High School Basketball.
“[It’s] definitely a great season anytime we can make it to the state tournament,” Fitzgerald said. “With the COVID-19, any game that we get we have been charnishing it, and hopefully we can have a great weekend.”
