Young Indians Split Games With Greeley County
The junior high boys basketball teams traveled to Tribune on Tuesday, November 29, for basketball competition. The Indians came home with a win and a loss. St. Francis lost to Greeley County (GC) in the B-Team game by a score of 26-29. The Indians won the A-Team contest 36-14.
The B-Team boys led 16-9 at halftime, but fell behind late in the contest and lost a three-point game, 26-29. Early in the third period, the Indians extended their lead to 9-21 getting baskets by Preston Witzel and Tyson Poling (assist Rylan Doyle). Greeley County 6th-grader Titus Sherer then scored 10 straight points for the Jackrabbits in the last half of the third period. Witzel's free-throw late in the quarter allowed St. Francis to retain a one-point lead, 22-21, after three periods of play.
The fourth quarter scoring opened with a left-wing basket by Jaxon Brandl giving Greeley County the lead. Rylan Doyle's free-throw at 3:42 tied the contest, but soon Brandl swished a shot from the right elbow giving the Jackrabbits the lead for good. Doyle connected on two more charity tosses in the final minute of play pulling the Indians within one (26-27), but the Indians could not score again. A final basket on press-offense gave the Jackrabbits a 26-29 victory.
Indians scoring in the B-Team game were: Rylan Doyle 10, Ben Busse 9, Preston Witzel 5, and Tyson Poling 2. The Indians connected on 5 of 15 free-throws. Greeley County was led by Titus Sherer with 14 and Jaxon Brandl with 10. The Jackrabbits made 0-5 from the stripe.
St. Francis jumped all over the Jackrabbits early in the A-Team contest. Though the Indians appeared a bit out-of-sync at times, they were always in full control of the contest. The first St. Francis basket, a high-low assist from Colton Neitzel to Jesse Baxter, tied the contest at 2-all. Cade Magnon's left corner shot put the Jackrabbits ahead again, but then the Indians ended the quarter with a 10-point run. The St. Francis scores came on a right-elbow shot by Kobe Tice (assist Baxter), a Baxter offensive rebound, steal-twos by Baxter and Adam Krien, and an assist by Shadryon Blanka on a left corner shot by Baxter. St. Francis led 12-4 after one quarter of action.
The Indians' defensive pressure kept the Jackrabbits from being effective offensively throughout the second period. The Indians were not real sharp offensively either, but earned eight more points in the period while holding the Jackrabbits scoreless. Ben Busse tallied three assists on the first three Indian baskets; a baseline jumper by Jesse Baxter, a left-elbow jumper by Colton Neitzel, and an out-of-bounds play bucket by Shadryon Blanka. The final basket of the half came on a right-elbow score by Baxter. The Indians led 20-4 at halftime.
The St. Francis run continued into the third period as well. Colton Neitzel's assist led to another baseline score by Jesse Baxter. After Adam Krien made 1 of 2 from the stripe, Kobe Tice sank a free-throw area jumper. Another Baxter score, this one from the left corner, moved the score to 28-4. With 1:15 left in the period, GC's Seth Williams scored on a drive concluding a 26-0 Indian run. The Indians led 28-9 after three quarters of play.
The Jackrabbits opened the final period with two free-throws. Adam Krien's driving score ended a 7-point GC run. Jaxon Brandl added two free-throws to the GC scoreboard, before a technical on the GC bench led to a free-throw by Jesse Baxter. St. Francis added a Baxter baseline jumper (assist Kobe Tice) and free-throws by Shadryon Blanka and Krien (2) to total a 36-14 win.
Jesse Baxter led all scorers with 20 points. Adam Krien added 7 to the St. Francis total. Other Indians scoring included Kobe Tice 4, Shadryon Blanka 3, and Colton Neitzel 2. The Indians made 5 of 9 free-throw attempts.
Greeley County was led by Seth Williams and Jaxon Brandl each with 6 points. GC converted 8 of 13 free-throw tries.
The Indians will play Dighton, in St. Francis, on Thursday, December 1.
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