Dell Rapids St. Mary – Season Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this article, we are putting the Cardinals under the microscope! Dell Rapids St. Mary is a Class B team in Region 4. They are a well-coached team with <em><strong>Colby Fitzgerald</strong></em> at the helm. Read on for more info on the Cardinals!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last season, the DRSM Cardinals finished the year with a 15-6 record (7-2 Dakota Valley Conference). The Cardinals were the #2 seed going into region play but were upset by a strong Bridgewater-Emery team in the 1st round of postseason play. The Cardinals had 4 players selected All-Conference to wrap up the season: Sr.<strong> John Pica</strong> (2nd team); Jr. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1393219' first='Dylan' last='Mathis']</strong> (2nd team); So. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1266273' first='Nic' last='Gaspar']</strong> (3 rd team); Sr. <strong>Ty Brown </strong>(Honorable Mention). DRSM graduated 8 seniors and 2 starters but is looking to use last season's success to springboard them into the 2022-23 season!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1634111,"width":283,"height":177,"sizeSlug":"full","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/10/TeamPreview.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/10/TeamPreview.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1634111" width="283" height="177"/></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"25px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:25px"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Team Stats 2021-2022</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>PPG:</strong> 56.4 <strong>OPPG:</strong> 47 <strong>FG%:</strong> 39.7 <strong>2FG%:</strong> 45.9 <strong>3FG%:</strong> 26.6 <strong>3FGM:</strong> 93 <strong>FT%:</strong> 60.3 <strong>RPG:</strong> 37.7 <strong>APG:</strong> 10.2 <strong>SPG:</strong> 9.8 </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center","style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"25px"}}} --> <p class="has-text-align-center" style="font-size:25px"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Off-Season info from coach <em>Fitzgerald</em></strong></span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center","fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">"<em>We participated in the AU and USF team camps and played in the Sanford Pentagon Summer Jam League which allowed our squad to get together and continue our team growth. After graduating 8 seniors and 2 starters we will be looking for individuals to step up into new leadership roles for the upcoming season. I have to praise the boys in our program as they do a great job navigating through the busy summer months. We have several multi-sport athletes on our team and they do a great job putting time in the summer to get better while being pulled in many directions. We also were able to bring back our “youth summer league” which is awesome to watch our players interact with the youth in our community.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"25px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:25px"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Upperclassmen</strong></span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1539677' first='CJ' last='Smith'] (2023) |6'0 G| </strong> - He will be the only returning senior back for the Cardinals for the 22-23 season. Last year, Smith started all 21 games for the Cardinals at the PG spot and finished the year averaging 8 ppg, 3 rpg, and 2 apg while leading the team in 3FG% at 33%.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1393219' first='Dylan' last='Mathis'] (2023) |6'2 G|</strong> - The Cards were looking for a big year from Mathis but his senior year has been cut short due to an ACL injury he suffered in week 2 of the football season. Dylan was a returning All-Conference player who led the team is scoring (13ppg) assists (3apg) and steals (2.5spg) while shooting a team-high 48% from the field and 59% from 2FG. DRSM will sure miss Dylan's production on the floor this season but his senior leadership will not go unnoticed as he will continue to be someone the underclassmen can look to throughout the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1266273' first='Nic' last='Gaspar'] (2023) |6'2 G|</strong> - He is a returning starter who was 3rd Team All-DVC last year. This will be his 3rd season at the varsity level and the Cardinals will be looking for Nic to take a big jump from his soph to junior year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Wyatt Geraets (2024) |6'1 G|</strong> - Played a significant role on the JV team last year. The Cards will be looking for him to be a contributor on varsity this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Camden Gilbert (2024) |5'10 G|</strong> - Played a significant role on the JV team last year. The Cards will be looking for him to be a contributor on varsity this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lucas Flemmer (2024) |5'11 G|</strong> - Played a significant role on the JV team last year. The Cards will be looking for him to be a contributor on varsity this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Owen Vargas (2024) |5'10 G|</strong> - Played a significant role on the JV team last year. The Cards will be looking for him to be a contributor on varsity this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"25px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:25px"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Up-and-Comers</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"12px","fontStyle":"normal","fontWeight":"200"}}} --> <p style="font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-weight:200"><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Look out for these guys in the near future</span>!</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1263161' first='Maverick' last='LeBrun'] (2025) |6'0 G|</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1625214' first='Trevon' last='Beckman'] (2025) |6'0 G|</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1559131' first='Trimmier' last='Hanson'] (2026) |5'9 G| </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1642569' first='Lincoln' last='LeBrun'] (2026) |5'9 G|</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1545639' first='Walker' last='Warwick'] (2026) |6'1 G|</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center","style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"25px"}}} --> <p class="has-text-align-center" style="font-size:25px"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Coach <em>Colby Fitzgerald</em> talks about the Cardinal style of basketball</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center","fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">"<em>The Cardinals will look to push the tempo in transition this season as we will try to utilize our team speed. We will continue to look for strong perimeter play with hopes of shooting from the “3” at a high percentage. Defensively we primarily play man-2-man but will mix up our looks throughout the season to help us put ourselves in a position to be competitive. With only 2 starters returning that saw significant time for us last season, we will be looking for a lot of new faces to set up in bigger roles for the Cardinals this year.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center","style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"25px"}}} --> <p class="has-text-align-center" style="font-size:25px"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Coach <em>Fitzgerald</em> comments on rival teams for DRSM</span></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center","fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">"<em>As a member of the Dakota Valley Conference, we have great teams that we see play throughout the season. Each of the last 2 seasons the DVC conference has sent 2 teams to the State “B” with De Smet being the reigning 2x State B Champions. We hope that the strength of our conference will once again get us ready for postseason play.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center","style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"25px"}}} --> <p class="has-text-align-center" style="font-size:25px"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Coach <em>Fitzgerald</em> talks about the top teams in the Region</strong></span></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"align":"center","fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">"<em>Region 4B is always competitive from top to bottom and we don't see that changing anytime soon. Bridgewater-Emery, Canistota, Ethan, &amp; Howard have strong teams returning that will once again make postseason play exciting to look forward to.</em>"</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1399487,"sizeSlug":"full","linkDestination":"media"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/SD-1.jpg"><img src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/ph/uploads/2022/03/SD-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1399487"/></a></figure> <!-- /wp:image -->