Indians Swat The Hornets
The St. Francis Junior High basketball teams defeated the Dighton Hornets on Thursday, December 1, in St. Francis. St. Francis won the B-Team contest 29-19 and the A-Team game 53-21.
In B-Team action at the Grade School, both teams had trouble scoring in the first period. The Indians did not score, and the Hornets could only muster 2 points. The Indians found the net in the second stanza - with regularity. The Indians swished four treys and tallied 23 points to lead 23-2 at halftime. Preston Witzel scored 16 points during the second period and Ben Busse added seven. Though the Indians only scored 6 points in the second half, it was enough to hold on for a 29-19 win.
Indians scoring for St. Francis in the B-Team game were: Preston Witzel 16, Ben Busse 12, and Rylan Doyle 2. The Indians made one of the two free-throws attempted. Dighton was led by J.C. Payne with 9 and Max Neeley with 6. The Hornets converted 0 of 6 from the line.
The A-Team game was controlled by the Indians from the outset. St. Francis jumped out to a 10-0 lead getting several fast-break baskets with good teamwork. An assist by Kobe Tice to Colton Neitzel moved the score to 6-0. Shadryon Blanka followed with a lay-up. Jesse Baxter added a bucket to make the lead double-digits. Canden Bauer scored the first Dighton basket at 2:50, and Blaine Whipple followed with an offensive rebound score (10-4). Another Tice assist on Baxter's trey from the right corner triggered a second Dighton time-out. Adam Krien scored on a floater in the lane on the next possession. Jayden Coleman's left corner shot moved the Hornet's total to 6. Baxter closed the first quarter with an offensive rebound score. The Indians led 17-6.
The second period was played more evenly by the two teams. Bauer opened the second quarter with an offensive rebound score. Ben Busse followed with a right corner trey. Dighton's J.C. Payne then scored a basket when the Hornets executed well on press offense. Consecutive baskets by the Indians, the second a stick-back by Colton Neitzel, extended the lead to 14 points (25-11). The quarter concluded with a Dighton out-of-bounds play bucket and a left-wing shot by Gavin Cooper for the Indians. St. Francis lead 27-13 at halftime.
The Indians opened the third period with a 10-point run getting two baskets from Jesse Baxter (steal-two and an assist by Colton Neitzel), a left-wing shot from Neitzel, an offensive rebound by Adam Krien, and a lay-up by Kobe Tice (assist Shadryon Blanka). The margin quickly grew to 36-13. The run ended when Bauer scored on an offensive rebound for the Hornets. St. Francis closed with two hoops from Blanka. The scores came on an offensive rebound (plus one) and lay-up after a block by Neitzel. St. Francis led 41-15 after three periods.
Porter Stephens opened the final period with a left-corner trey for the Hornets. It would be one of two baskets the Hornets would get in the period as the Indians continued to dominate defensively. Adam Krien's assists set up the next two St. Francis baskets; an out-of-bounds play score by Jesse Baxter and a lay-up by Shadryon Blanka. Krien's post score moved the advantage past 30 points (49-18). The final two scores of the contest came on a trey by Dighton's Coleman and a score by Preston Witzel on a post-split. St. Francis defeated the Hornets 53-21.
Seventh grader Jayden Coleman led the Hornets with 10 points. St. Francis was led in scoring by Jesse Baxter with 21 points. Other Indians adding to the point total were Shadryon Blanka 9, Adam Krien 8, Colton Neitel 6, Ben Busse 3, Kobe Tice 2, Preston Witzel 2, and Gavin Cooper 2. The Indians made 3 of 4 from the line. Dighton was 1 of 4.
St. Francis will play Decatur Community in Oberlin on Monday, December 5.
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