Indians Open With Two Wins
The Indians opened the 2016-17 high school basketball season with two wins against the Quinter Bulldogs on Friday, December 2. In games played in Quinter, the Indians won a two-quarter junior varsity contest 26-23 and gradually pulled away from the scrappy Bulldogs in the varsity game to win 70-44.
The Indians never trailed in the varsity contest. Earning three quick scores to lead 6-0, the Indians gradually built a large enough lead to complete the contest with a running clock due to the 30-point rule. Dalton Straub opened the contest with a left-wing basket. Brock Waters followed with a jumper from the left-wing, and Tate Busse set up another Straub score with a nice assist on a fast-break. Quinter's difficulty in possessing the ball against the defensive pressure of the Indians was causing issues early, and the Bulldogs called time-out at the 5:12 mark. After the time-out, Quinter's Luke Kaier (5' 10" Jr.) scored on a baseline drive. Water's driving score answered at the other end. Both teams attempted several treys early in the contest, but had little luck finding the net. Late in the quarter, an offensive rebound basket by Waters moved the score to 12-4. Quinter's Connor Havlas (6' 3" So.) chipped in a basket from the post. An assist from Straub found Busse open for a left-wing trey in the final minute. St. Francis led 15-8 after one period.
The Bulldogs were scrappy and fought hard throughout. Though the Indians led by as many as 9 points in the first period, the Bulldogs trimmed the margin in the second period. Tate Busse opened the second period with a steal-two, triggering another Quinter time-out. Kasen Ostmeyer (5' 11" Fr.) drained a top-of-the-key trey, and Havlas followed with an offensive rebound score (17-13). The Bulldogs still had some bite left. The Indians responded with consecutive assists by Brock Waters on two scores by Busse (right-corner trey and fast-break). With 5:45 on the clock, St. Francis led 22-13. Three minutes later, neither team had scored again, and Quinter used another time-out. After the pause, Havlas scored on an offensive rebound and Adam Caasi (5' 8" Jr.) scored on a drive (22-17). Waters answered with an old-fashioned three-point play on a drive for the Indians. Two more Havlas buckets narrowed the advantage to 25-21. The Indians led 27-21 at halftime after Waters swished two free-throws in the closing seconds of the first half.
The Indians blew the game open in the third period. The Indians opened with Tate Busse score after an assist by Brock Waters. Waters next assist preceded a right-wing trey by Brady Dinkel. Dinkel's consecutive free-throws increased the lead to 34-21. After a Bulldog score, Jeremiah Neitzel added a stick-back basket. Quinter's Luke Kaiser (5' 10" Jr.) swished a trey from the right wing narrowing the gap to 10 points and triggering a St. Francis time-out at 5:13. After returning to the floor, Quinter's Eli Glick (6' 4" Sr.) scored from the high-post. St. Francis needed another run and got it. Dalton Straub swished a shot from the free-throw area, Busse sank a top-of-the-key trey, Neitzel scored on another offensive rebound, as did Waters. The lead was now 45-28. Scores by Waters (two offensive rebounds), Neitzel (two post baskets), and a driving three-point play by Busse helped close out the quarter. St. Francis led 56-32 after three periods.
Tate Busse drained another trey to open the final period (assist Brady Dinkel). After a Havlas score in the lane, Busse's next trey (assist Dinkel) moved the margin to 30 points (62-32) and started the running clock. St. Francis went on to win the game 70-44.
Tate Busse led all scorers with 24 points. Brock Waters added 21 for the Indians. Others scoring for St. Francis included Jeremiah Neitzel 10, Dalton Straub 7, Brady Dinkel 6, and Jordan Raby 2. The Indians made 12 of 16 from the line.
Quinter was led by sophomore Connor Havlas with 16 points. Freshman Kasen Ostmeyer added 9. The Bulldogs connected on 5 of 12 from the stripe.
The Indians will play Heartland Christian at 7:30 p.m. in the opening round of the Sagebrush Classic in Brewster on Monday, December 5.
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