Lady Indians Defeat Wallace Co. In NWKL
The Lady Indians earned a 44-36 victory over the Wallace County Lady Wildcats in the opening round of the Northwest Kansas League Tournament in Oberlin on Tuesday. The Lady Indians will now play the Dighton Lady Hornets in the championship semi-final game on Friday at 6:00 p.m. in the Varsity Gym in Oberlin. Dighton defeated Decatur Community 67-19 on Tuesday evening to advance.
The Wallace County - St. Francis game began with a of series of turnovers by both teams. Both teams seemed to be a bit anxious, and there were eleven turnovers (6 by WC and 5 by SF) in the opening minutes. Only one basket was scored during the ragged exchange; a left-wing trey by WC's Carli Haslip (5' 7" junior). At 4:42, St. Francis called time-out hoping to find more composure and a way to score. In the next three minutes, the Lady Indians drained three treys, two by Emileigh Dinkel and one by Reagan Beims to take a 9-3 lead. Each trey followed an assist by Lauren Johnson. Haslip added two free throws at 1:59, and a trey by Sydni Allen (5' 5" junior) soon pulled the Lady Cats within one (9-8). Dinkel's third trey of the period gave the Lady Indians a small cushion, and a right-wing shot by Dinkel closed the quarter. St. Francis led 14-8 at the end of one period.
The Lady Indians extended the margin by scoring the first three baskets of the second period. Hanna Bracelin opened the quarter with a shot in the lane. Bracelin then scored on an out-of-bounds play (assist Karly Bandel). After a WC time-out, Reagan Beims drained a left-wing trey to place St. Francis at a 21-8 advantage. With 3:09 left in the quarter, WC earned their only basket of the quarter; a right-baseline shot by Lakin Perry (5' 4" freshman). Baskets by Zoe Sundstrom and Bandel were answered by four free-throws by the Lady Cats. The teams headed to the locker room with the Lady Indians leading 25-14.
Wallace County returned to the floor determined to play better. The Lady Wildcats scored the first 5 points of the third period; two free-throws by Hanna Pletcher (5' 7" senior) and a left-wing trey by Haslip. The Lady Indians' advantage had been quickly reduced to six (25-19). St. Francis took a time-out at 6:57. After the time-out, an assist by Zoe Sundstrom on an out-of-bounds play, led to Emileigh Dinkel's fourth trey of the contest. Lauren Johnson sandwiched a free-throw between a driving score by Haislip and a left-wing trey by Cassidy Kriegh (5' 6" senior) with four seconds remaining in the period. St. Francis led 29-24 at the third quarter break.
Lauren Johnson opened the final period with a post score. Moments later, Pletcher scored her first field goal of the game on a drive. After a free-throw by Zoe Sundstrom, Cassidy Kriegh trimmed the lead even more with a trey from the right wing. At 5:42, the Lady Indians led 32-29, and the outcome was uncertain. Seven seconds later, as she had done all evening, Emileigh Dinkel drained another trey when it was needed most. The Lady Indians continued to roll. Hanna Bracelin added a free-throw and a baseline drive (38-29) causing Wallace County to call another time-out at 3:54. After another time-out at 2:33, Bracelin's driving score was followed by a drive by Kreigh at the opposite goal at 1:56. Zoe Sundstrom's driving score in the lane moved the scoreboard to 43-31 and triggered another WC time-out with one minute left. In the next 30 seconds, Haslip added 2 free-throws and Allen a trey to the WC total (43-36). Sundstrom added an additional free-throw before the clock expired. St. Francis defeated Wallace County 44-36.
St. Francis was led in scoring by Emileigh Dinkel with 17 points (5 treys). Hanna Bracelin added 10 points. Zoe Sundstrom and Reagan Beims each chipped in 6. Lauren Johnson scored 3 points and Karly Bandel 2.
