A Team Advances to Semi-Final Game
B Team Season Ends
The junior high boys basketball A team won a close contest over Quinter in the first round of the Northwest Kansas League Junior High Basketball Tournament on Thursday, December 18. Playing on their home court, the Indians earned a 39-36 victory over the scrappy Bulldogs.
The Indians opened with two quick baskets, both by Tayton Weeter, after assists by Brady Dinkel and K.C. Krien. Quinter then answered with 6 points of their own to take a 4-6 lead. With 52 seconds left in the first quarter, Cody Baxter scored after a Dinkel assist on a fast-break. Dinkel scored on a driving lay-up to bring the score to 8-6 before the quarter ended.
St. Francis extended their lead in the second period. Draven Houtman scored on a nice post-move, and Brady Dinkel scored on an offensive rebound following a steal by Jordan Raby. After an exchange of free throws, the Indians led 14-7. Quinter narrowed the deficit to 14-13, before Dinkel answered from the post. At 1:06, a coast-to-coast drive by the Bulldogs trimmed the margin to one again. A Conner Keller assist on a Dinkel trey, and a Dinkel steal and coast-to-coast basket (plus one), completed the first half. The Indians led 22-15 at the break.
Quinter opened the third with a quick basket, but did not score again until 49 seconds remained in the period. The swarming St. Francis defense caused problems for the Bulldogs and also resulted in several additional possessions for the Indians. After Dinkel scored the first eight points of the the quarter for the Indians, Jordan Raby finalized the unanswered 10-point Indian run with a steal-two. Brady Dinkel's basket at 1:20 in the third quarter completed a run of 21 consecutive points for the talented player extending back into the first period. The final basket of the period belonged to the Bulldogs. St. Francis led after three periods, 32-20.
But the Bulldogs we not about to quit. Quinter took advantage of several Indian miscues early in the fourth period and scored ten consecutive points to narrow the margin to 32-30 with 3:15 remaining. A banking trey from the top-of-the-key by Brady Dinkel stopped the run. A Dinkel steal that resulted in two made free throws moved the score to 37-30 and gave the Indians some breathing room. At 2:04, the Bulldogs connected from the right wing (37-32). At 1:53, a Quinter foul sent Jordan Raby to the line; Jordan made 1 of 2. At 1:28, Quinter scored on an offensive rebound (38-34) and were fouled by the Indians. The free throw was missed. After a time-out at 1:01, Quinter scored on a well-executed out-of-bounds play to move the score to 38-36. K.C. Krien made 1 of 2 with 18 seconds left to advance the score to 39-36. Both St. Francis and Quinter had fought hard, but the Indians escaped to advance to the semi-final game against Dighton at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.
The Indians will play two games on Saturday. The time and opponent of the second St. Francis contest will be determined by the outcome of the semi-final contests played Saturday morning.
The scores of the other first round A team games were: Hoxie 58 - Rawlins County 20; Wallace County 45 - Greeley County 35; and Dighton 46 - Decatur Community 4.
The B team Indians lost to Dighton 15-34 and were eliminated from the tournament.
Click here to view/print the UPDATED A team bracket.
Click here to view/print the UPDATED B team bracket
