Boys Split Games With Hoxie
In a battle of the Indians, each junior high team emerged with a win. Hoxie won the A-Team contest in a very competitive game, 37-40. St. Francis earned a come-from-behind victory in the B-Team game, 20-18.
The A-Team game opened with two quick whistles - both fouls on Jesse Baxter. Baxter played 12 seconds before taking a seat on the bench for much of the 1st half. Hoxie took a 0-6 lead on two free-throws, a post cut, and a drive by Gavin Tremblay. Adam Krien's coast-to-coast drive put the Indians on the scoreboard, but Kyler Niblock quickly answered on a drive for Hoxie. Colton Neitzel scored from the post (assist Krien), and Tremblay followed with a floater in the lane on the next Hoxie possession. An out-of-bounds play lob to Niblock increased the Hoxie lead to 4-12 and triggered a St. Francis time-out at 2:17. In the final minutes of the first period, Krien scored from the left elbow in transition, and Tremblay earned a fast-break score. St. Francis trailed 6-14 after one period of play.
Baskets by Adam Krien (offensive rebound) and Jesse Baxter (post) trimmed the margin to 10-16 early in the second period; but mid-way through the quarter, a drive by Tremblay stretched the Hoxie lead to 12-21. A free-throw by Baxter followed by a post score by Shadryon Blanka trimmed the deficit to 15-21. Hoxie then scored two unanswered baskets to finish the half with a ten-point (15-25) lead.
Hoxie also scored the first two baskets of the third period moving the scoreboard to 15-29. Then the Indians exploded! Jesse Baxter's left wing trey ignited a 14-point Indian run. Shadryon Blanka's assist set up a score by Colton Neitzel from the post. Baxter followed with another trey from the left corner. The shot triggered a Hoxie time-out at 2:45 (23-29). Blanka then scored on an assist from Adam Krien. After a series of turnovers, two by each team, Baxter scored again, this time on an offensive rebound. Two more Hoxie turnovers led to a Blanka coast-to-coast drive tying the game at 29-all with 45 seconds left in the third period. Cade Gourley's steal-two finally broke Hoxie's scoring drought and ended the period.
The action had been intense throughout, and more good competition was yet to come. Tremblay's right baseline score was followed by an out-of-bounds play basket by Colton Neitzel (assist Krien). With both teams playing aggressive defense, neither team found it easy to score. After time-outs by both teams in the final minutes, Adam Krien's scoring drive with 18 seconds left tied the contest at 33-all. In the final seconds, the Indians earned a steal and called time-out, but could not get a shot away. The game went to overtime.
At 1:58 in the overtime, Kobe Tice scored on a lay-up giving the Indians their first lead (35-33) since the opening moments of the game. At 1:45, Gavin Tremblay scored in the lane for Hoxie. Ashton Dowell made one of two from the line at 1:10 and then scored a lay-up with 50 seconds left resulting in a 35-38 Hoxie advantage. Krien calmly swished consecutive free-throws with 43 seconds left (37-38) getting the Indians within one. Seconds later, Colton Neitzel's steal gave the Indians a chance, but the Indians could not convert. Tremblay sealed the Hoxie win with consecutive free-throws with 7 seconds left. The Indians lost a very competitive game to Hoxie, 37-40.
Hoxie's Gavin Tremblay led all scorers with 22 points. Kyler Niblock chipped in 8 toward the Hoxie cause. Jesse Baxter lead the Indians with 11 points (with limited playing time due to fouls). Adam Krien added 10, Shadryon Blanka 8, Colton Neitzel 6, and Kobe Tice 2. The Indians were 3 of 8 from the line; Hoxie made 5 of 8.In B-Team play, the Indians trailed 2-4 after one period and 7-12 at halftime. Though the Indians played hard, the margin widened to 11-18 by the end of the third period. In the fourth quarter the Indians caught fire scoring nine points, seven by Preston Witzel, to earn a 20-18 win.
Scoring for the Indians in the B-Team game were: Ben Busse 11, Preston Witzel 7, and Rylan Doyle 2.
The Indians will play Rawlins County in St. Francis on Thursday, November 17.