Basketball Teams Host Golden Plains
On Tuesday, January 3rd, the high school basketball teams got back into action after the holiday break by hosting Golden Plains in St. Francis. The varsity teams split their games with the Bulldogs. The varsity boys defeated Golden Plains; the Lady Indians lost a close contest to the Lady Bulldogs.
In the varsity girls contest, St. Francis jumped out to an early 5-0 lead on a basket by Clarice Neitzel at the 5:34 mark and led 9-3 a few moments later. The advantage was cut to 9-7 with one minute remaining in the first period, but the Lady Indians responded with a couple quick baskets to earn a 13-9 lead after one period.
Golden Plains tied the contest at 13-all just over a minute into the second quarter. A basket by Aly Schlepp gave the Lady Indians their last lead of the contest 15-13. The Golden Plains' half-court trap rattled the Lady Indians and resulted in numerous turnovers and rushed shot attempts. Golden Plains earned a 17-25 advantage with approximately two minutes left in the half and led 19-25 at halftime.
St. Francis continued to turn the ball over against the pressing defense of the Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Indians were down by double-digits throughout much of the third period, but cut the lead to 31-36 by the third quarter break.
A basket by Kaitlin Figgins made the score 36-42 with 4:15 remaining. A stick-back basket by Figgins narrowed the deficit to 38-42. Another offensive rebound basket by Figgins cut the lead to 40-42. With 1:53 remaining, a nice pass from Kyla Bandel to Kailtin Figgins resulted in a 42-44 score. At the 1:36 mark, Golden Plains gathered in an offensive rebound and the Lady Indians fouled. Golden Plains missed both free throws. St. Francis turned the ball over on their next possession and Golden Plains scored again (42-46). Laura Brunk scored with 59 seconds left to cut the lead to 44-46. Golden Plains answered with 48 seconds left (44-48). St. Francis missed their next shot attempt and failed utilize the clock properly in the final seconds. Golden Plains scored a final basket with a few seconds left to take a hard-fought 44-50 win.
Kaitlin Figgins scored 23 points for the Lady Indians. Aly Schlepp added 7. St. Francis was 20-54 from the field (37%) and 4 of 13 from the free throw line. Kailtin Figgins grabbed 15 rebounds and Aly Schlepp collected 10. Golden Plains received balanced scoring with five players (Jones, Spresser, Junemann, Lobato, and Christensen) scoring between 8 and 10 points.
Coach Susan Dinkel made the following comments on the varsity girls game, "I was very pleased with our effort at the start of the game. Unfortunately, our focus left us when it came to the second quarter. Golden Plains put a lot of pressure on us, and we just didn't react well. We had several turnovers and just acted like fish out of water. We stopped scoring and really began to play lazy.
In the second half, we put quite a bit of pressure on, but we just couldn't get anything going. We had dug ourselves into a hole and struggled to claw our way out of it. I think we finally got down by 2, but then played lazy defense and they capitalized on it. Laura Brunk's defensive effort tonight should be recognized on the press. I was very pleased with her play. As a team, we must remember to do the little things each and every time down the court - especially box out. We should have had at least 10 more rebounds then we did have defensively. We aren't a bunch of high jumpers, so we must do a better job of getting our bodies into position for those boards. It's just something we must work on during practice, and fortunately for us, tomorrow is another day and we can practice that."
The junior varsity girls lost to Golden Plains 30-31.
The varsity boys game was controlled by the Indians from the outset. The Indians opened the game with three consecutive treys; one each by Isaac Schiltz, Dylan Peter, and Mason Schiltz. A steal and layin by Isaac Schiltz gave the Indians an 11-2 lead early in the contest. The Indians led 26-11 after one period of play.
A steal and basket by Mason Schiltz moved the score to 30-11 with 7:12 left in the first half. With every player seeing playing time in the first half, the Indians led 38-13 at the 3:40 mark and held a commanding 43-17 lead at halftime.
Golden Plains chipped into the lead a bit early in the third period. The Indians led 53-31 with 3:21 left in the third quarter. The Indians began to execute better, especially defensively, and began to widen the margin again. A steal and basket by Isaac Schiltz moved the score to 63-34 with 1:13 left in the period. Wyatt Landenberger followed with a basket. The Indians led 65-34 after three periods.
With 5:19 left in the game, a steal and basket by Jonathan Butler moved the score to 69-35. With the substitute players receiving a lot of playing time in the second half, the Indians coasted to a 77-40 victory.
Mason Schiltz led the Indian scoring with 22 points. Isaac Schiltz added 17, Dylan Peter, 8, and Kyler Zweygardt 7. The Bulldogs were led by Cole Christensen with 23. Tristan Schwartz contributed 8 to the Bulldog point total.
The junior varsity boys game was also won by the Indians. Jacob Baxter scored on a stick-back basket with 2:16 left in the opening period to give the Indians a 10-4 lead. The Indians were up 12-7 after one period.
Baxter scored another basket off a nice pass by Steve Nelson to extend the lead to 24-7 with 3:07 left in the first half. Nelson scored at the buzzer to earn the Indians a 27-9 halftime lead.
The Indians led 36-15 after three quarters of play and cruised to a 50-25 victory.
Kyler Zweygardt led the junior varsity scoring with 16 points. Jacob Baxter added 10. All eight Indian players scored in the contest.
The teams will host Hoxie on Friday, January 6th, in St. Francis. Games begin at 4:45 PM.
Between the varsity games, Adam Krien and Taylor Kinzer were awarded basketballs for their participation in the youth basketball program by varsity players Dylan Peter and Jenna Hill.
