Lady Indians Beat Lady Wolves
The St. Francis Lady Indians defeated the Idalia Lady Wolves in both of the contests played in St. Francis on Friday January 6. The varsity girls earned a 52-36 victory over the 4-2 Lady Wolves. The Lady Wolves were the 2016 Colorado state champions in Class 1A. The junior varsity girls defeated the Lady Wolves in a two-quarter contest 35-10.
In the varsity contest, the Lady Indians jumped out to an early 8-0 lead. Zoe Sundstrom's assist set up a score by Taighe Weeter from the left corner to open the contest. Sundstrom followed with a post-move basket. Sundstrom's left corner shot (assist Hanna Bracelin) moved the scoreboard to 8-0 strengthening the Lady Indians confidence. Idailia's Alex Weyerman got the Lady Wolves on the scoreboard with a jumper in the lane. Sophomore Breann Shaffer added the next three points trimming the Lady Indians' lead to 8-5. Emileigh Dinkel's trey answered for the Lady Indians. The first period closed after baskets by Idalia's Crystal Cordova and St. Francis' Karly Bandel. The Lady Indians led 13-7 after one period.
Cordova opened the second period with a fast-break basket. Minutes later, Shaffer followed with an offensive rebound basket. At. 4:23,St. Francis used their second time-out to try to curb the Lady Wolves' momentum and to find a way to earn a basket. After the time-out, Idalia's Faith Carpenter drained back-to-back treys from the left corner giving the Lady Wolves a 13-17 lead. The Lady Indians desperately needed a score.....and they got it. Reagan Beims' assist lead to a left wing basket by Hanna Bracelin. With 1:54, remaining in the first half, Idalia called time-out to discuss strategy. The break seemed to help the Lady Indians more than the Lady Wolves as St. Francis closed the half with a 6-1 run. Taighe Weeter's right wing jumper (assist Karly Bandel) tied the contest at 17-all. After an Idalia free-throw, Lindsey Johnson and Reagan Beims combined for three points from the charity stripe. Bracelin's left corner trey closed the first half. The Lady Indians went to the locker room with a narrow 23-18 advantage.
The Lady Indian run continued into the third period. Reagan Beims sank one-of-two from the stripe to open the second half. Beims' high-post score (assist Hanna Bracelin) moved the scoreboard to 26-18 matching the Lady Indians' largest lead of the game. After a free-throw by Idalia's Kehlsie Juhnke, Lauren Johnson's assist set up a right wing trey by Emileigh Dinkel. Breann Shaffer followed with a post score; but at 4:50, the Lady Indians earned a double-digit lead on a fast-break basket by Taighe Weeter (assist Lauren Johnson). Shaffer answered with a post-move basket, but then the Lady Indians went on an 8-point run to close the quarter. At 2:45, Weeter sank consecutive free-throws. Bracelin followed with a jumper from the left wing. Lindsey Johnson's offensive rebound basket preceded a right corner shot by Weeter (assist Karly Bandel) to close the period. St. Francis had stretched the margin to 39-23.
Though the teams played to a 13-13 tie in the final period, the outcome of the game had been sealed. After a free-throw by Reagan Beims, Idalia drained consecutive free-throws. Lindsey Johnson's assist then set up a post basket by Hanna Bracelin. Shaffer answered with a shot in the lane, and Carpenter went coast-to-coast on a drive trimming the margin to 42-29. The drive triggered a St. Francis time-out at 3:49. With 2:42 remaining, Shaffer scored from the post again. The Lady Indians responded with another 8-point run getting baskets from Bracelin (post), Zoe Sundstrom (lane), and four free-throws by Reagan Beims. The run increased the Lady Indian lead to 50-31. The run was halted by an old-fashioned three-point play by Cordova on a stick-back basket. The game closed after two Bracelin free-throws and an offensive rebound basket by Shaffer. The Lady Indians defeated the Lady Wolves 52.36.
St. Francis was led in scoring by Hanna Bracelin with 15 points. Taighe Weeter and Reagan Beims each added 10. Other Lady Indians scoring in the contest were: Emileigh Dinkel 6, Zoe Sundstrom 6, Lindsey Johnson 3, and Karly Bandel 2.
Idalia was led by Breann Shafer (sophomore) with 15 points. Crystal Cordova scored 9 and Faith Carpenter 8 for the Lady Wolves.
The Lady Indians will play Weskan in St. Francis on Tuesday, January 10.
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