Indians Win Sagebrush Championship
Two Indians Named to All-Tournament Team
The St. Francis Indians won the championship of the Brewster Sagebrush Classic Basketball Tournament on Saturday, December 12th, by defeating the host Brewster Bulldogs in impressive fashion. The game was close throughout the the first half, but the Indians dominated the second half with crisp offensive execution and tenacious defense.
Neither team showed much offense in the first quarter. The period ended with the Indians leading 6-4. The second quarter was very even and the Indians went to the halftime locker room with a slim 22-20 lead.
The Indians got off to a good start in the third quarter, and stretched the lead to 32-23 with three minutes remaining in the period. The third period closed with the Indians still ahead by nine (37-28). The spread remained around ten points throughout the the first half of the final period, but the Indians made several consecutive baskets midway through the quarter to increase the lead. Trying to get back into the game, the Bulldogs attempted to full court press. The Indians went over the top for two easy baskets by Isaac Schiltz and Trent Raile to extend the lead to 50-34 with 2:20 remaining in the game. The Indians lead by 20 (54-34) with 1:30 left in the contest and went on to win 57-34.
The Indians had balanced scoring with three players in double figures. Trent Raile (19), Matt Raile (16), and Isaac Schiltz (12) led the Indians in scoring. The Bulldogs leading scorer was Devan Selby with 10 points.
Matt Raile placed second in the three point shoot-out. Matt made 7 threes in the first round to tie with a contestant from Rawlins County. In the second round, Matt made 11 treys to win the shoot-off. The contest was won by Ryan Allen of Brewster who made 8 in the first round.
Two Indians, Matt Raile and Trent Raile, were selected to the boys All-Tournament team. Others selected included Brett Gfeller (Triplains-senior), Caleb Keltz (Cheylin-junior), and Devan Selby (Brewster-senior).
The St. Francis Lady Indians played Cheylin in the 5th place game. Cheylin took a narrow 44-37 win in the contest. The Lady Indians had no players scoring in double figures in the contest. Rawlins County won the girls championship game with a 51-42 win over the Lady Eagles from Stratton, Colorado.
The girls All-Tournament team consisted of Sadie Smelker (Stratton-senior), Jordan May (Stratton-sophomore), Kara Gfeller (Triplains-senior), Hillary Chvatal (Rawlins County-sophomore), adn Nichelle Erskine (Brewster- senior).
Triplains was awarded the sportsmanship trophy.
Next action for the teams will be on December 15th when they travel to Colby to take on the Eagles. Tip-off is set for 6:30 PM.
