Lady Indians Split Games at Quinter
The Lady Indians and the Quinter Lady Bulldogs split their basketball wins on Friday, December 2. The Lady Bulldogs won the varsity contest 57-67. St. Francis won the junior varsity game 25-20.
The varsity game was a match-up between two improved teams from one year prior. Athletes from both teams competed hard throughout. The game was tied at halftime, but Quinter forged a five-point lead by the close of the third period and eventually won the contest by 10 points. Early in the contest the teams traded baskets. The Lady Indians first basket of the season was scored by freshman Taighe Weeter (assist Lauren Johnson). Quinter's Rebecca Kitch answered on an offensive rebound. St. Francis then earned a 4-point advantage on a left elbow basket by Hanna Bracelin (assist Reagan Beims) and a drive by Zoe Sundstrom. The lead would not last long, however, as Quinter's 5' 10" junior Peyton Havlas swished two free throws and Brittney Walt (5' 5" Jr.) drained a trey. At 4:40, St. Francis called the first time-out of the game trailing 6-11. After the visit, Lauren Johnson scored on an offensive rebound for the Lady Indians. Quinter followed with another trey by Crist. A free-throw line jumper by Bracelin trimmed the margin to 10-14, but then the Lady Bulldogs added two more free-throws and a press offense bucket by Havlas to lead by eight (10-18). The quarter closed with three consecutive treys, one by St. Francis and two by Quinter. St. Francis trailed 13-23 after one period of action. Twelve of the Lady Bulldogs' points had come from long range.
Quinter scored the first four points of the second period on a pair of free-throws and a post-move by Havlas. The deficit grew to 13-27. It was looking as if Quinter might run away from the Lady Indians. St. Francis was determined and kept executing both on offense and defense. Two baskets by Emileigh Dinkel on assists from Karly Bandel (out-of-bounds play) and Hanna Bracelin (left-wing) moved the Lady Indians within ten. A free-throw by Madi Tice was followed by an offensive rebound score by Bracelin. With 3:15 left in the first half, the Lady Indians had narrowed the gap to 20-27. Havlas followed with a strong post score for Quinter. With the Lady Indians in the bonus early, it appeared as if the bonus may help the Lady Indians reduce the margin before halftime. St. Francis tied the game by the halftime break, but the bonus had nothing to do with it. Bracelin's assist led to another score by Dinkel, and Taighe Weeter soon added a stick-back basket (1:05). Jylian Laten's assist set up a post score by Zoe Sundstrom, and with 10 seconds remaining, Dinkel was fouled on a drive to the basket. Emileigh sank both free-throws tying the game at 29-all at the break.
St. Francis took their first lead since early in the first period on a basket by Taighe Weeter to open the second half. Quinter answered on their next possession. An assist by Emileigh Dinkel set up a fast-break score by Zoe Sundstrom. Crist answered in the lane for the Lady Bulldogs tying the contest at 33-all. Quinter retook the lead (33-35) on a fast-break basket when the Lady Indians failed to have a defensive safety. After Reagan Beims and Brooke Blackwill (5' 5" Sr.) traded two free-throws, a left-wing trey by Karly Bandel put the Lady Indians in front again (38-37). It would be the last lead the Lady Indians would hold in the period, as Sarah Bird added four consecutive points to move the scoreboard to 38-41. Weeter followed with a nice press offense basket (assist Jylian Laten) after each Lady Indian touched the ball in transition on a well-executed play. Crist added a deep-two, and Havlas scored on three consecutive post-moves to increase the lead to 41-49. St. Francis closed the quarter with two free-throws by Bracelin and one by Weeter. The Lady Indians trailed 44-49 after three periods of play.
The deficit increased to 44-53 quickly as Quinter earned two fast-break baskets early in the final period. Lauren Johnson's assist then set up a fast-break basket by Emileigh Dinkel for the Lady Indians. St. Francis moved into the double-bonus with 5:48 left in the game hoping to capitalize on the advantage in this half. Lindsey Johnson added a free-throw and a left-wing score (assist Taighe Weeter). Hanna Bracelin then sank one-of-two after being fouled on a break (50-53). Zoe Sundstrom added another free-throw after being fouled on an offensive rebound. The foul was the 4th on Quinter's strong post player, Peyton Havlas. With 4:34 remaining in the game, Dinkel swished a trey (assist Bracelin) giving the Lady Indians a 54-53 lead. Blackwill answered from the left-wing on the next possession for the Lady Bulldogs. Quinter then called time-out to discuss strategy. With the Lady Indians playing zone defense, it appeared that the plan was to be patient with the ball in an attempt to use Havlas' strength inside. Soon the Lady Bulldogs execution payed off; Havlas scored from the post increasing the lead to 54-57. Unfortunately, the Lady Indians turned the ball over on their next possession. The mistake led to two Havlas free-throws. Sarah Bird's lay-up on the next Quinter possession increased the lead to 54-61 with 2:52 remaining. After a Quinter time-out, Lauren Johnson's assist led to a trey by Hanna Bracelin at 2:29 (57-61). It would be the last score of the game for the Lady Indians. Quinter went on to make 6 of 12 free-throw attempts to seal a 57-67 win.
Emileigh Dinkel (14) and Hanna Bracelin (13) led the Lady Indians in scoring. Others scoring for St. Francis included Taighe Weeter 9, Zoe Sundstrom 7, Lauren Johnson 5, Lindsey Johnson 3, Karly Bandel 3, Reagan Beims 2, and Madi Tice 1. The Lady Indians made 12 of 22 from the stripe. Lindsey Johnson grabbed 10 rebounds in the contest.
Peyton Havlas led Quinter with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Kylie Crist scored 15 for the Lady Bulldogs. Quinter made 19 of 35 from the free-throw line.
The Lady Indians will play Cheylin at 3:00 p.m. in the North Gym at Brewster High School on Monday, December 5. The game will open the Sagebrush Classic Basketball Tournament that runs through December 10.
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