Junior High Girls Suffer First Loss
The junior high girls basketball team suffered their first loss of the season on Thursday, November 20, in St. Francis. The visiting Rawlins County Lady Buffaloes nipped the Lady Indians 28-30 in A team action. St. Francis also lost the B team game 28-32.
Rawlins County (RC) scored the first goal of the game on a fast break. St. Francis answered with a basket by Lauren Johnson (assist Jessica Confer). Lindsey Johnson then added a free throw and an offensive rebound basket to move the score to 5-2. Rawlins County led 6-5 after one quarter of play, scoring twice on offensive rebound baskets in the latter portion of the first period.
Karly Bandel nailed a shot from the right baseline giving the Lady Indians a brief 7-6 lead. Rawlins County answered with a shot from the left elbow after an offensive rebound. The Lady Buffs extended the lead to 7-11 on the next possession after another offensive rebound (plus one). The superior size of the Lady Buffs was taking its toll in the contest. Jessica Confer narrowed the margin to two points by scoring on an out-of-bounds play on a nice pass from Teagan Landenberger. A Lady Buffs' bucket from the right wing preceded a RC time-out at 1:53. Lindsey Johnson's steal and coast-to-coast drive pulled the Lady Indians within two with 13 seconds left. The Lady Indians trailed 11-13 at halftime.
The Lady Indians increased the defensive pressure a bit more in the third period and earned a five-point lead by the third quarter buzzer. An assist by Lauren Johnson to Lindsey Johnson resulted in a tie on a shot from the left elbow. Rawlins County then beat the Lady Indians down court to score on a fast break. Taighe Weeter followed with an offensive rebound basket to tie the game again. A steal and assist by Lauren Johnson set up a lay-in (plus one) by Lindsey Johnson and the Lady Indians earned a 18-15 advantage. Rawlins County followed with a nice post move. On the next RC possession, the Lady Buffs earned five consecutive offensive rebounds before scoring on a stick-back to retake the lead (18-19). At 1:54, a pass from Bandel set up a right elbow jumper for Lauren Johnson, and the Lady Indians moved back in front. A Lindsey Johnson assist led to a basket by Jessica Confer, and a steal-two by Lindsey closed out the third period scoring. St. Francis led after three periods. 24-19.
Rawlins County was the only team to score in the first three minutes of the final period. The Lady Buffs earned a free throw and a nice post move basket to trim the lead to 24-22. St. Francis took a time-out at 3:02. An offensive rebound basket by Karly Bandel was followed by another offensive rebound basket by the Lady Buffs. The Lady Indians earned a 28-24 lead on Lauren Johnson's shot from the right elbow. At 1:44, RC scored on yet another offensive rebound (plus one) to pull within one point (28-27). With about a minute left to play, Rawlins County scored from the post to take a 28-29 advantage. The Lady Indians committed a turnover and then fouled with 23 seconds left in the contest. The Lady Buffs added a free throw to their score. The Lady Indians failed to score again, and Rawlins County won a hard-fought A team game 28-30.
All five starters contributed to the scoring column for the Lady Indians. Lindsey Johnson scored 12 points. Lauren Johnson added 6, Karly Bandel 4, Jessica Confer 4, and Taighe Weeter 2. Rawlins County was led by post players Singhateh (9) and Merz (8). Beckman added 6 points.
The B team game was close throughout the first half. After being tied at 6-all after one period of play, the Lady Indians earned a slim one-point advantage (14-13) at halftime. Rawlins County led 18-25 after three quarters of play, and escaped with a 28-32 win.
Scoring in the B team game were: Hannah Zimbal 13, Jayden McGinnis 5, Echoe Lennox 4, Alondra Gomez 2, Cassidy Busse 2, and Shalyn Zweygardt 2.
The Lady Indians will play Wallace County, in St. Francis, on Monday, November 24.
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