Girls Defeated by Victoria in Sub-State
It was very close throughout, but the Victoria Lady Knights earned a narrow 48-55 victory over the Lady Indians in the first round of the 1A - Division 1 Sub-State Tournament in Quinter on Monday, March 2, 2015. The Lady Knights now advance to the semi-finals where they will play Hoxie (20-0). A Hoxie win in the contest will set a new state record for the most consecutive victories in girls basketball (92).
Victoria scored on an offensive rebound to open the contest, and Kayla Reed followed with a steal-two. After a Victoria fast-break score, Val Wurm made a shot near the top-of-the key. Both teams struggled to maintain possession of the basketball, but the Lady Indians took the lead, only one of two they held in the contest, on an out-of-bounds play basket by Kyla Bandel (assist Journey Lee) at 2:38. Victoria responded with two treys and a fast-break basket (12-6) triggering a St. Francis time-out at 1:17. Each team made consecutive free throws to close the quarter. St. Francis trailed 8-14 after one period of play.
The Lady Indians found it difficult to score against the active 3-2 zone of the Lady Knights. The Lady Knights found it difficult to maintain possession and play was a bit ragged. St. Francis found it easier to score from the line and made 10 of 10 free throws in the first half. Victoria scored four of their seven second quarter baskets on the break. The Lady Indians trimmed the margin to three (17-20) at approximately 5 minutes on a shot by Valerie Wurm (assist Kyla Bandel). At 3:23, two free-throws by Hanna Bracelin gave the Lady Indians a 23-22 lead. Victoria then scored three consecutive fast-break baskets and a free-throw to lead 23-27 at 1:58. After the Lady Indians earned a five-second count defensively on their press to regain the basketball, Bandel drained a trey to get the Lady Indians back within one (26-27) with 46.9 left in the first half. A Victoria trey moved the halftime score to 26-30.
Journey Lee scored on an offensive rebound on the Lady Indians' first possession of the second half. Victoria attacked again on the fast-break and earned two-free throws. Lee's assist on Kyla Bandel's shot from the right corner helped pull the Lady Indians within one (31-32) at 5:25. Neither team scored for several minutes thereafter, but eventually the Lady Knights earned another fast-break basket at 2:25. Nine seconds later, Hanna Bracelin scored for the Lady Indians. Victoria ended the third period with two more baskets on press offense and a free-throw to take a 33-39 lead into the final period. The Lady Knights missed the first free-throw of the contest by either team with 4 seconds left in the third period.
A driving basket to open the fourth quarter gave the Lady Knights their largest lead of the game, 33-41. Kyla Bandel trimmed the lead with a three-ball from the right wing (assist Emily Elfers). Consecutive baskets by Hanna Bracelin, a trey from the left wing followed by a left wing deuce, moved the Lady Indians within one point (41-42) with 6:04 left. Victoria re-established an advantage with another press-offense basket and two free-throws, but a nice assist by Valerie Wurm on a cut by Kyla Bandel narrowed the gap to three. A baseline drive by the Lady Knights was answered by a Bandel trey near the three-minute mark (46-48). Victoria then reeled off 6 unanswered points, all resulting from the break (or free-throws created on it) to lead 46-54 with 22.7 seconds left. The Lady Indians' season closed with a 48-55 loss to the Victoria Lady Knights.
Kyla Bandel led all scorers with 23 points (5 treys). Hanna Bracelin scored 11 points for the Lady Indians. Journey Lee and Valerie Wurm each added four points. Kayla Reed, Kylie Sherlock, and Reagan Beims each scored 2. The Lady Indians were perfect from the free-throw line making 10 of 10 (all in the first half). St. Francis made 6 treys in the contest.
Victoria had four primary contributors to their scoring: Samantha Leiker (5' 8" Fr.) 22 (9 in 1st qtr. and 10 in 4th qtr.), Hannah Radke (5' 9" Fr.) 15, Sara Shippers (5' 10" So.) 10, and Abigail Schremmer (5' 3" Jr.) 8. The Lady Knights made 12 of 18 free-throws and 3 treys.
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