Indians Bitten by Wildcats
The Wallace County High School basketball teams defeated the St. Francis teams on Tuesday, February 9th. The Wildcats won three of the four games played during the evening. The junior varsity teams both played close two-point contests. The varsity games were not as competitive.
In varsity boys action, the Indians got off to a sluggish start and trailed the Wildcats 3-16 early. The Indians were down 12-26 after one quarter. Using full court pressure, up-tempo offense, and some impressive play by Tate Andrews, the Wildcats extended the lead to twenty points (14-34) with 5:36 left in the second period. The Indians would later mount a comeback, but would not recover from the early deficit. The Indians trailed 23-41 at halftime.
In the third period, the Indians cut the lead to twelve (35-47) with two minutes left in the quarter. The margin was down to ten points at the close of the third period. St. Francis trailed 37-47.
St. Francis had trouble scoring early in the final quarter and the Wildcats began to widen their advantage. The Indians trailed 39-49 early in the period, but fell behind by scores of 40-56 and then 44-61. The Indians lost to a good Wildcat team by a final score of 50-65.
Matt Raile scored 20 points to lead the Indians. Garrett Figgins and Isaac Schiltz each had 8 points. Tate Andrews led all scorers with 29 points (20 in the first half). Calvin Schmitt (6'6" center) scored 15 and was an intimidating presence defensively. Tadd Andrews added 12 to the Wildcats total.
The junior varsity boys won a close contest over the Wildcats 62-60. Wallace County earned a 8-16 advantage after one quarter of play and led 31-34 at halftime. The third quarter score was 46-50 Wildcats. The Sainty boys rallied to win the game 62-60. Three Indians, Dylan Peter (17), Matt Tygardt (14), and Jonathan Butler (12) each scored in double figures. Kuhlman, Summers, and Davis all scored in double figures for the Wildcats.
The varsity Lady Indians struggled against the Lady Wildcat's full court pressure and up-tempo offense. The Lady Indians fell behind 2-13 by the 5:01 mark in the first period and trailed 2-20 only four minutes into the contest. The margin was as great as twenty-one points (3-24) with about five minutes played, but the Lady Indians began to get some baskets late in the quarter. The Lady Indians were down by a large margin (9-28) at the end of the first period.
The second period found the Lady Indians struggling to get anything going offensively due to numerous turnovers and missed shots. The lead advanced to 14-40 with 4:14 left in the half. The Lady Indians trailed 17-52 with 2:03 to play and 22-58 at halftime.
The third quarter break found the Lady Indians trailing 27-75. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock. St. Francis lost to a good Wallace County team 31-78.
Christina Hilt scored eight points to lead the Lady Indians. No other Lady Indian scored more than four points. Wallace County had four girls in double figures: Kuhlman (14), Knobbe (13), Mote (13), and Benisch (13). Both teams shot well from the free throw line. St. Francis was 9-12 while Wallace Co. was 17-22.
The junior varsity girls game was close throughout. The Lady Indians trailed 4-6 after one quarter but lead 9-8 at halftime. The Lady Indians fell behind 20-24 after three quarters of play and lost a close contest to the Lady Wildcats 25-27.
Next action for the teams will be on Friday night (February 12) when the teams travel to Atwood to take on the teams from Rawlins County High School.
