Cardinal Boys Clear Districts To Compete In State Tournament

CARDINAL (24) GAGE HEDSTROM drives down the court with an EPPJ player hot on his trail.

Last week we reported a mistake that indicated the St. Mary's Cardinal's season had ended to EPPJ. The boys are still going strong with two more wins to their name.

In actuality, The St. Mary's Boys Basketball team advanced into post-season play last week, facing Neligh/Oakdale and ending their season with a 69-13 win in the Cardinal gym on Tuesday, Feb. 25. The Warriors end their season without a win for the 2024-2025 season.

Risken Dawson led the Cardinals with 11 points and seven rebounds; Drake Berg had nine points and six rebounds; Xavier Parks had nine points and two steals; Logan Brabec had seven points, one rebound and two steals; Ben Barlow had seven points, three rebounds and two steals; Gage Hedstrom had seven points, two rebounds and one steal; Ruger Kraft had six points and one steal; Eli Banks had four points and one rebound; Max Berg had four points, three rebounds and three steals; Cameron Vogt had three points and one rebound; and James Eby had seven points and two rebounds and two steals.

On Thursday, Feb. 27, the Cardinals faced this season's nemesis: the Elgin Wolfpack. The Card's battle was the third game with the Wolfpack, with the Cards first beating them in the NVC Conference final 69-63 in overtime; the Cards faced the Wolfpack again on Feb. 28, that time losing at the Wolfpack den 69-65. The Cards pulled out Thursday's win 44-28.

The Cards have averaged 66 points and 32 rebounds per match; The Wolfpack averaged 54 points and 26 rebounds per game.

The Cards must have had some tension going into the match as they almost couldn't buy a bucket and didn't score until there were only two minutes left in the first quarter.

They continued to dominate, not allowing the Wolfpack to slip by for the rest of the game.

Hedstrom sunk 20 points and had 12 rebounds; Barlow had 16 points, five rebounds and one steal; Brabec had three points, seven rebounds and two steals; M. Berg had three points and two rebounds; D. Berg ended with two points and one rebound; Eby had four rebounds; Dawson had three rebounds and Banks had two rebounds and two steals.

SMH 6 15 14 9 44

EPPJ 6 9 7 6 28

With only the District final match-up left, the Cardinals had no plans of slowing down. On Monday, Mar. 3, the boys contested a 6-16 Bayard team.

The Cardinals came out the gate with a fire, and scored 18 points be for the Tigers got on the  board and then quickly giving themselves a 25-point lead in the opening quarter alone. The Cards kept laying on the pressure, and the Tigers weren't able to keep up.

By the end, it was clear the Cardinals were in a different league, and took their State ticket game easy, 71-23.

SMH 28 19 19 5 71

BHS 3 5 15 0 23

The boys earn their seat to the State Tournament with their win over Bayard. The Cards enter with a record of 21-5.

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