Boys Lose to Ranked Colorado Team
The #8 ranked Holyoke Dragons proved to be just a bit better than the Indians on the evening of January 8. The Dragons used excellent ball movement, quickness, team balance, and aggressive defense to earn a 54-63 win over the Indians in a game that was much closer than the score indicated. St. Francis lost to the Dragons in the two-quarter junior varsity game by a score of 4-25.
Holyoke's Jesus Loya opened the contest with a deep trey seconds into the varsity contest. It was a preview of things to come as a very good Holyoke Dragon team battled with the Indians. St. Francis followed with a nine-point run, getting two free-throws by Quinton Cravens, a basket by Brock Waters on a cut (assist Jude Faulkender), a press offense layup by Faulkender (assist Taylor Rogers), and a left wing trey by Tate Busse (assist Waters). The six-point lead would be the largest lead of the game for either team until the final period. The Dragons responded with a 6 point-run earning a free-throw plus a floater in the lane and another deep three by Loya. The Dragon run tied the contest (9-all) at the 2:50 mark. After a Waters' post basket, the Dragons drained another trey, this one by Gunner Kroeger, to take a 11-12 lead. Tate Busse's trey returned the lead to St. Francis, and Waters' left corner shot increased the Indian lead to four (16-12). Holyoke answered with a left-handed floater in the lane by Loya and a trey by 6' 4" junior Austin Herman (16-17). At the end of one period of play, the Indians led 19-17 after receiving a left corner trey from Waters.
If the first quarter was an indication of what was to come, it was going be a good one! Tate Busse's steal-two extended the Indians' lead to four in the opening minute of the second period. Holyoke's Bradley Cumming followed with a trey becoming the fourth Dragon to score from behind the arc (21-20). St. Francis answered with a three-ball by Brock Waters (assist Tate Busse). The Dragons took the lead (24-25) with a score in the lane and three free-throws with 1:43 left in the first half. Jude Faulkender's drive returned the lead back to St. Francis on the next Indian possession. After two Dragon free-throws with 32 seconds left, Faulkender scored on another drive giving the Indians a 28-27 halftime lead.
The Indians had held the lead throughout most of the first half. It was the Dragons' turn to hold the lead, and they did so throughout most of the second half. St. Francis earned a three-point lead early in the third period after a fast-break score by Tate Busse. The lead became four (32-28) on a strong baseline drive by Taylor Rogers. Holyoke tied the contest at 33-all on a top-of-the-key trey at the 5:15 mark. At 5:10, a turnover-two gave the Dragons a 35-33 lead. Quinton Cravens swished two free-throws at 4:50 to tie the game again, but Holyoke took the lead for good on a free-throw with 4:41 showing on the third quarter clock. A driving score and sweet pass resulting in a layup put the Dragons up 35-40. The pace of the contest was increasing. St. Francis called time-out with 3:50 left in the period. Holyoke took a blood time-out before a return to action. After returning to the floor, Brock Waters added two free-throws to the Indians' cause. Loya answered with a floater in the lane for Holyoke. Tate Busse's left wing trey narrowed the deficit to 40-42, but the Dragons followed with a strong offensive rebound basket by Alex Yanez. In the last 1:13 of the quarter, the Indians earned a free-throw and basket by Cravens (assist Busse) but trailed at the third quarter break 43-46 after another driving score by Loya.
The Dragons earned the largest lead of the contest thus far with a post basket and offensive stick-back opening the final period (43-50). Tate Busse's drive pulled the Indians within five. Holyoke followed with an old-fashioned three-point play on a fast-break (45-53). The Dragons then sandwiched an offensive rebound score between two free-throws by Brock Waters and a deep-trey by Busse (50-55). At 3:13, the deficit grew to eight (50-58) when the Dragons earned another three-point play in the lane. Trailing 52-58, the Indians began giving fouls at 1:04. The Dragons' Martin Lindstrom sank four consecutive free-throws in the next fifteen seconds. At 40.9, Waters made 2-of-3 after being fouled on a three-point attempt (54-61). The Indians also committed fouls at 38.4, 27.4, and 18.6. The Dragons could only add two more points with their attempts, but the shot attempts of the Indians would not find the net either. St. Francis had played possibly their best game of the season, but lost to a very good Holyoke team 54-63.
Tate Busse (20) and Brock Waters (18) were in double figures for the Indians. Other Indians scoring were: Quinton Cravens 8, Jude Faulkender 6, and Taylor Rogers 2. The Indians committed 17 fouls and made 10 of 15 free-throw attempts.
Holyoke was led by 5' 11" senior Jesus Loya with 23 points. Others scoring 6 or more for the Dragons were: Martin Linstrom (5' 11" junior) 10, Alex Strauss (5' 10" junior) 9, Gunner Kroeger (6' 0" junior) 7, Bradley Cumming (5' 8" senior) 6, and Austin Herman (6' 4" junior) 6. The Dragons converted 15 of 24 shot attempts and committed 14 fouls.
St. Francis never was in the junior varsity contest. The Indians earned only two baskets in the two-quarter contest. K.C. Krien scored on a drive to move the score to 2-5, but the Indians trailed after one quarter of play 2-8.
In the second quarter, the Indians fell behind 2-17 before earning their final basket of the game, a layup by Tayton Weeter (assist Connor Keller). The Indians lost the junior varsity contest to Holyoke 4-25.
The Indians will play Quinter on Friday, February 12, in St. Francis.
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