At long last, Quarriers and Cardinals will clash in basketball
High school sports calendars will be unveiled in the coming weeks and months, and this year adds a unique twist for Dell Rapids.
The city of Brookings could arguably take on the name Dell Rapids North for a day in late December this year. For the first time in more than three decades, Dell Rapids will play Dell Rapids St. Mary in boys basketball at the Entringer Classic at Brookings High School on Dec. 28.
The scholarship classic is a boys and girls event held in remembrance of Mike Entringer, a longtime football and basketball official who died in 1990. Funds raised during the event are used to reward student athletes with scholarships.
This year marks the 22nd annual classic, and each year tournament officials try and find unique matchups. Dells vs. St. Mary certainly fits that bill.
The Quarriers return four starters, including two seniors in Drew Van Regenmorter and Logan Ellinson. St. Mary counters with all five starters returning, led by junior scoring machine Connor Libis, who enters this season with 1,609 career points and was the leading scorer in Class B basketball last year at 27.2 points per game.
The impending clash between crosstown rivals has sparked excitement in Dell Rapids, and Quarriers coach Jason Fersdahl says he’s heard that buzz around town.
“It will be a fun experience for everybody in town. It’s been years since they’ve played each other,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a fun thing for the community.”
The Cardinals will be guided by first-year head coach Colby Fitzgerald. The 33-year old was an assistant coach on last year’s St. Mary team and was also a member of the Cardinals’ only state championship team in 2004.
Fitzgerald said Dell Rapids will be the largest school the Cardinals face in 2019-20 in terms of enrollment. According to the South Dakota High School Activities Association, Dell Rapids has an average daily membership (grades 9-11) of 225 students, while St. Mary’s ADM is 45.
“I don’t think you ever want to pinpoint a game on the schedule, but I think there will be a lot of excitement for the community,” Fitzgerald said. “Every game is important and we want to take them one game at a time and remember that no game is more important than the other. But I think it would mean something to the boys to get a win over Dell Rapids.”
Last year, the Quarriers qualified for the Class A state tournament in Sioux Falls as the No. 8 seed and finished sixth. St. Mary hasn’t qualified for a Class B state tournament since 2005. Fitzgerald says a win over Dell Rapids would be nice, but he also has bigger goals in mind.
“The big picture for us is getting to the state tournament,” he said. “Having the opportunity to play in Aberdeen for our team would be a bigger success story than a regular season win.”
Fersdahl says even though the two schools haven’t met on the court for several years, the players all know each other and will have fun competing against each other.
“They’re around town together. They go to church together,” he said. “They grow up playing against each other and they all have good relationships with each other.”
A packed house at Brookings High School is almost certain to be the case when the Quarriers and Cardinals tangle, finally, again.
“I guess the stars aligned and it worked out for both schools to make that rematch happen,” Fitzgerald said.