Lady Indians Defeat Weskan
On Tuesday, January 10th, the Weskan Lady Coyotes came to St. Francis to compete in high school basketball. The Lady Coyotes competed hard, but had a difficult shooting night against the Lady Indians' defense. The Lady Indians defeated the Lady Coyotes 48-29.
Weskan jumped out to an early 7-point lead, but the Lady Indians fought back, regained the advantage, and extended the margin throughout the contest. Weskan used pressure defense to cause a few early turnovers which resulted in a 0-7 deficit for the Lady Indians, Weskan's sophomore Jenna See scored two of the early Weskan baskets and had assists on another. St. Francis finally got on the scoreboard with a top-of-the-key shot by Lauren Johnson. Hanna Bracelin's drive narrowed the margin a bit more, but Weskan's Janelle Frasier (senior) answered quickly. A coast-to-coast drive by Taighe Weeter moved the score to 6-9. After a Weskan free-throw, Zoe Sundstrom added an offensive rebound basket trimming the deficit to two. An assist by Lindsey Johnson led to a right baseline score by Weeter tying the game at 10-all at the end of the first quarter.
With the Lady Indians executing much better against the press, St. Francis tied the game again at 12-all, and eventually took the lead (13-12) on a free-throw by Taighe Weeter at the 5:55 mark. Hanna Bracelin swished a right wing trey (assist Lauren Johnson), a free-throw, and a shot from the left elbow to give the Lady Indians a bit of breathing room. Reagan Beims followed with an offensive rebound basket and Lauren Johnson added a free-throw. The 10-point St. Francis run placed the Lady Indians at a 22-12 advantage with 3:26 remaining in the first half. Weskan made two free-throws halting the run, but the Lady Indians finished the period with seven more unanswered points. Weeter drained a shot from the left wing (assist Lauren Johnson), Lindsey Johnson added a post basket (assist Bracelin), Bracelin chipped in a free-throw, and Weeter scored on press offense via an assist by Zoe Sundstrom. The Lady Indians had outscored the Lady Coyotes 19-4 in the second period and now led 29-14 at the halftime break.
Hanna Bracelin opened the third period with a score from the left corner. Weskan quickly answered. The Lady Indians then added six unanswered points to increase the lead to 37-16 with 5:05 remaining in the period. The scores came on a left elbow shot by Weeter (assist Bracelin), a fast-break basket by Emileigh Dinkel (assist Weeter), and two free-throws by Reagan Beims. Weskan sophomore Brylee Aldridge followed with a top-of-the-key basket. After a Weskan time-out, Dinkel swished a trey from the right wing (assist Karly Bandel) to move the scoreboard to 40-18. Alivia McKinney (senior) followed with a jumper from the free-throw area for Weskan. Bandel's assist to Lindsey Johnson resulted in another fast-break score for the Lady Indians and triggered another Weskan time-out at 1:30. Two more baskets would be scored in the third period; a jumper in the lane by Bandel and a buzzer beater by senior Sierra Seader for Weskan. St. Francis led 44-22 after three periods of action.
Neither team scored much in the final period, and the substitute players received much of the court time. McKinney scored the first basket of the period for Weskan, but Hanna Bracelin soon followed with a basket and an assist on a Weeter bucket. St. Francis led 48-24 midway through the quarter and would not score again. Weskan trimmed the margin a bit with five consecutive points. St. Francis defeated the Weskan Lady Coyotes 48-29. There was no junior varsity girls contest.
Hanna Bracelin and Taighe Weeter each scored 13 points to lead the Lady Indians. Other adding to the St. Francis point total included Emileigh Dinkel 5, Karly Bandel 4, Lindsey Johnson 4, Reagan Beims 4, Lauren Johnson 3, and Zoe Sundstrom 2. Weskan was led in scoring by Jenna See with 8 points and Alivia McKinney with 7.
The Lady Indians will play the Dighton Lady Hornets in Dighton on Friday, January 13.
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