Greeley County Wins Two In St. Francis
The Greeley County (Tribune) basketball teams won both of the varsity basketball games played in St. Francis on Friday, February 17th. Greeley County brought two good teams to St. Francis. According to MaxPreps, the Greeley County boys were 14-4 and the Lady Jackrabbits were 12-5 entering the evening. St. Francis won the junior varsity contests.
The varsity girls game was controlled from the outset by the Lady Jackrabbits. A couple of turnovers by the Lady Indians allowed the girls from Tribune to jump out to a 4-9 lead with just over three minutes gone in the contest. The Lady Indians closed the gap to 9-11 before the Lady Rabbits went on a 10-2 run to advance the score to 11-21 with 1:36 left in the first period. St. Francis committed numerous turnovers against the aggressive defense of the Lady Rabbits and were also late getting down the floor in transition allowing Tribune to score often from point-blank range. The Lady Indians fell behind 26-43 by halftime.
The Lady Indians played their opponents closer in the second half, but gave up too many easy baskets in press transition to cut into the deficit. The point spread grew to 37-59 after three quarters. The Lady Indians lost to a good Greeley County team 50-72.
The varsity boys game was a thrilling contest between two talented teams. St. Francis fell behind 10-18 with 2:12 left in the first period and trailed by ten points (14-24) at the first quarter break.
At the 6:00 mark in the second period, a steal and basket by Mason Schiltz started a run by the Indians. A trey by Isaac Schiltz at 4:46 cut the deficit to 19-26, but the Indians could get no closer. The half closed with the Indians trailing 23-30.
The Indian defense held strong in the third period, contesting shots and limiting the Jackrabbits to one shot. Dylan Peter gathered in several big rebounds in the period. With 2:34 left in the third period, an assist by Isaac Schiltz to Dylan Peter resulted in a basket on an out-of-bounds play to cut the lead to six (34-40). Cade Bracelin followed with a three-ball on the next possession to trim the lead to three with 2 minutes left. Neither team scored again in the quarter, and the score held at 37-40 going into the final period.
Dylan Peter opened the scoring in the 4th period with a trey at 6:53. The Indians had tied the game at 42-all. The Indians earned the lead on a pull-up jump shot in the lane by Jonathan Butler with 6:15 left. On the next Indian possession, Isaac Schiltz earned a stick-back basket to give the St. Francis a 46-42 lead.
Unfortunately, the Indians committed turnovers on their next three possessions and a Greeley County trey at 4:26 gave the Jackrabbits the lead again (46-49). At 4:01, the Rabbits stole the ball from St. Francis and converted the turnover into a lay-up basket. The Indians were struggling and were now down 46-51. With 2:40 left, an "old-fashioned" three point play gave Greeley County 49-56 advantage. A trey by Isaac Schiltz cut the deficit to three at 2:27. Greeley County scored a deuce at 2:02 and the Indians turned the ball over again on their possession. The Indians were trailing 52-60 with just over a minute left, but Isaac Schiltz drained a trey (assist by Wyatt Landenberger) with 55 ticks left on the clock to get the Indians within five. Dylan Peter stole the basketball from the Rabbits on their next possession and then drained a trey with 35 seconds left. The Indians were within two (58-60). With the clock winding down, the Indians fouled the Rabbits to conserve the clock. The Rabbits missed the front end of the one-and-one and the Indians rebounded the basketball. After advancing the basketball to the front court, the Indians called timeout with 3 seconds left to set up a shot to win the game. The shot rimmed out, and the Indians lost a hard-fought battle to a good Greeley County team 58-60.
Isaac Schiltz scored 23 points to lead the Indians. Dylan Peter added 15. Cade Bracelin and Mason Schiltz each scored 9. The Indians were 2 of 4 from the line.
Chaz Schneider led the Jackrabbit scoring with 22 points. Cesar Yanez chipped in 19. Greeley County was 1 of 5 from the line.
In junior varsity girls action, early baskets by Aubrey Mills, Aly Schlepp, and Kyla Bandel gave the Lady Indians a 6-0 lead. An nice pass by Schlepp to Mariah Beikman resulted in a 8-1 lead at 4:31. The Lady Indians followed with baskets by Justice Wiley and two more by Bandel to jump out to a 14-1 lead at the 3:31 mark of the first period. The first period closed with the Lady Indians looking good; leading 16-5.
The JV girls contest was a two period game due to limited player numbers. St. Francis led 25-7 with less than two minutes gone in the final period and cruised to a 34-13 victory.
The JV boys game was close throughout. A basket by Keegan Sherlock gave the Indians their first lead (7-6) of the two quarter contest with just over a minute left in the first period. The Indians held a 12-9 advantage when the period closed.
An assist by Steve Nelson lead to a Kyler Zweygardt basket at 2:35 in the final period to give the Indians a 17-12 lead. A trey by Greeley County moved the score to 20-17 with 32 seconds left, but the Indians held on for a 22-17 win.
Kyler Zweygardt scored 11 points for the Indians in the JV game. Martin Veleta scored 12 of the Greeley County points.
Cutter Neitzel and Taighe Weeter were awarded basketballs for their participation in the kids basketball program. Wyatt Landenberger awarded the ball to Cutter. Taighe was absent for the presentation and will receive her basketball at a later date.
The teams will play Quinter in St. Francis on Friday, February 24.
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