Indians Win Sagebrush Championship
Other Individual Honors Achieved
The St. Francis Indians won the Brewster Sagebrush Championship with a victory over a good Logan team on Saturday, December 10. The Indians jumped out to an early lead and continued to stretch the margin eventually winning 67-36 under a running clock. Brock Waters placed second in the free-throw contest, and Tate Busse won the three-point shootout at the tournament. Both Waters and Busse were named to the five-man All-Tournament team.
Below is a video of Tate winning the three-point contest.
Tate Busse scored 38 points in the contest to lead all scorers. His performance set a new St. Francis High School single-game scoring record. The old record was 36 points shared by Tim Harkins (vs Oberlin in 1974), Bill Kreuger (vs Cheyenne Wells in 1984), and Isaac Schiltz (vs Osborne in 2012).
The Indians and Logan Trojans traded baskets early in the contest. After a driving score by Brock Waters on the first Indian possession, Logan's Kelson Kats (6' 2" Sr.) swished a trey. Tate Busse scored on a drive, but then Riley Allen (6' 1" Jr.) followed with a score from the right baseline. At 4:14, Busse sank consecutive free-throws, but Lane Stapelton (6' 0" Jr.) answered with another right baseline shot. St. Francis took the lead for good on a top-of-the-key trey by Busse (9-7). After a stop on the defensive end, the Indians scored on a nice assist by Dalton Straub on a cut by Waters through the lane. The play resulted in an old-fashioned three-point play. Logan call time-out at 2:31 trailing 12-7. After returning to the floor, the Trojans' Josh Van Laeys (6' 4" Sr.) scored from the left elbow on a nicely executed play. It would be the last basket the Trojans would score for a while, as the Indians added three more hoops to their first quarter point total. Two driving scores by Waters and a one-handed tip-in by Straub at the buzzer made the first period score 18-9 in favor of the Indians.
The Indian momentum would continue in the second period. St. Francis scored the first seven points of the period extending the run to 13 points. Tate Busse's assist found Brady Dinkel for a lay-up to open the quarter. After a drive by Brock Waters, Busse drained a top-of-the-key trey. The final points of the run came on a post-move basket by Jeremiah Neitzel after an assist by Waters. The lead grew to 27-9. Logan responded with consecutive baskets by Michael Daniels (5' 11" So.) and Stapelton. The two close-range baskets trimmed the margin to 27-13. After a Busse free-throw, Allen and Van Laeys each scored triggering a St. Francis time-out at 3:37 with the scoreboard showing 28-17. Busse added a driving score and two free throws in the next few moments. Neither team scored in the last two minutes of the period. St. Francis led 32-17 at halftime.
Tate Busse opened the third period with a left-wing trey. Van Laeys followed with a strong post move.The Indians were about to initiate another scoring run of 8 points. Jeremiah Neitzel scored on an offensive rebound, Brock Waters swished two free-throws, Busse scored on a lay-up, and Neitzel's assist found Waters on a cut to the hoop. With five-plus minutes to go in the period, the Indians led 42-19. After a Logan time-out, Kats drained a trey for the Trojans narrowing the advantage to 20 points. Busse answered with a trey at the opposite end of the court. After two Van Laeys free-throws, the Indians closed the period with three more treys (all by Busse and a pair of free-throws by Waters. St. Francis led 56-26 after three periods of action.
With the 30-point rule in play, the fourth quarter was completed with a running clock. The Indians were poised to pounce again. Two scores from Tate Busse (baseline - assist Brock Waters; steal-two) and a basket by Brady Dinkel (assist Waters). quickly moved the margin to 60-26. Logan responded with a trey by Stapelton and a post-move by Van Laeys. A left-wing basket by Busse and trey by Waters (assist Dinkel) quickly erased the Trojans progress. Logan scored the final five points of the contest to bring the final score to 67-36.
St. Francis was led in scoring by Tate Busse (38) and Brock Waters (19). Others scoring for the Indians included Jeremiah Neitzel 4, Brady Dinkel 4, and Dalton Straub 2. The Indians made 9 of 12 from the stripe. Busse had 7 treys in the game.
Logan was led in scoring by Josh Van Laeys with 15 points. Lane Stapelton added 7. The Trojans made 1 of 3 from the line.
The Indians will play Dundy County -Stratton in St. Francis on Friday, December 16. The Tigers come into the game with a 5-1 record averaging 64.2 ppg and shooting 49% from the field. The Tigers also average 34 rebounds and 14 steals per contest. DCS is led in scoring by 6'1" junior Phalen Sanford with (22 ppg) and 6' 3" Noah Kerchel (10.2 ppg).
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