Girls Overcome Sluggish Start
St. Francis 39, Rawlins County 36
The Lady Indians defeated a scrappy Rawlins County team 39-36 on Tuesday, January 24, in St. Francis. The Lady Indians struggled early in the contest, trailed by as many as 13 points, but eventually took the lead in the fourth quarter and held on for a narrow win. In the contest, St. Francis made 13 more free-throws than the Lady Buffaloes. The junior varsity Lady Indians defeated the Lady Buffs 18-8 in a two-quarter contest.
In varsity action, Rawlins County jumped out to a quick 0-5 lead getting an opening trey from Gracyn Higley (5' 3" senior) and two free-throws from Abigail Horton. Reagan Beims finally got the Lady Indians on the scoreboard with a driving score at the 4:39 mark. Rawlins County (RC) followed with three consecutive baskets to lead 2-11. An assist by Beims, finding Hanna Bracelin cutting to the goal, resulted in the second SF basket. Beims added a free-throw to trim the deficit to 5-11, but a final basket by RC's Kristen Beckman closed the quarter. Seven Lady Indian turnovers in the period prevented St. Francis from keeping pace offensively. St. Francis trailed 5-13 after one quarter of play.
St. Francis would fare a bit better in the second period. The Lady Indians reduced their turnover total to five in the period and also found ways to get to the free-throw line for uncontested points. Hanna Bracelin opened the quarter with a post basket. Beckman then added a driving basket and a right-wing trey. With the addition of a RC stick-back score, the Lady Buffs led 7-20. St. Francis called time-out at 2:34 to regroup. After returning to the floor, the Lady Indians added 6 consecutive free-throws (2 each by Emileigh Dinkel, Lindsey Johnson, and Taighe Weeter) and a top-of-the-key trey by Bracelin. The Lady Indians were gaining momentum. The halftime score stood at 16-22 in favor of the Lady Buffs.
St. Francis scored the opening basket of the third period; a left-wing jumper by Hanna Bracelin. Rawlins County called a quick time-out at 6:31, and followed it with a score on press offense and a steal-two. St. Francis then used a time-out at 5:26 trailing 18-26. After the time-out, the Lady Indians earned a basket on a well-executed play ending with a Reagan Beims assist to Bracelin in the post. RC's Kurstann Horinek (5' 6" senior) answered with a left-wing trey increasing the deficit to nine (20-29). Beims scored the final bucket of the third period on a shot in the lane. The Lady Indians were playing better, but still trailed 22-29.
The Lady Indians cranked up the defensive pressure in the final period, and the result was several miscues by the Lady Buffs. The added possessions helped the Lady Indians eventually earn the victory. St. Francis opened the final quarter scoring with a fast-break basket by Zoe Sundstrom (assist Hanna Bracelin). A steal by Sundstrom soon resulted in two Bracelin free-throws. On the next RC possession, a steal by Lauren Johnson also ended in two more Bracelin free-throws. At 6:17, Rawlins County called time-out leading by the narrowest of margins, 28-29. The Lady Indian run continued for a bit longer, and at 5:30, Emileigh Dinkel's back-to-back free-throws gave the Lady Indians their first lead of the contest (30-29). The advantage was short-lived as RC scored on an offensive rebound by Beckman on their next possession. Beckman then added a free-throw about a minute later. With 2:46 remaining, St. Francis called time-out for strategy. With just over two minutes to go, Reagan Beims' steal led to a score by Dinkel tying the game at 32-all. After another SF time-out, the Lady Buffs regained the lead with a basket by Angela Singhateh resulting from well-executed press offense. On the next SF possession, Taighe Weeter was fouled by Gracyn Higley on a offensive rebound. The foul removed RC's point guard from the contest, and Weeter sank one-of-two (33-34). At 1:24, a turnover by Rawlins County gave the go-ahead possession to St. Francis. With 1:05 remaining, Bracelin scored in the post giving the Lady Indians the lead for good (35-34). Seconds later, a steal by Sundstrom gave the Lady Indians another possession that ended with two Bracelin free-throws. The Lady Buffs were not conceding just yet however, and Singhateh added another press offense basket narrowing the Lady Indian advantage to 37-36 with 35 ticks left. With 20 seconds left, Bracelin drew a charge on Singhateh as she drove to the basket returning possession to the Lady Indians. The Lady Indians added free-throws by Lauren Johnson and Beims in the closing seconds to preserve a 39-36 come-from-behind win.Leading scorers for Rawlins County were 5'4' freshman Kristen Beckman (12), 5' 8" sophomore Angela Singhateh (8), and 5' 6" senior Abigail Horton (6). The Lady Buffs connected on 3 of 6 from the line.
St. Francis earned numerous trips to the stripe during the contest and converted 16 of 21. Hanna Bracelin led the Lady Indians in scoring with 19 points. Other Lady Indians adding to the point total were: Emileigh Dinkel 6, Reagan Beims 6, Taighe Weeter 3, Lindsey Johnson 2, Zoe Sundstrom 2, and Lauren Johnson 1.
The Lady Indians will play Hoxie, in Hoxie, on Friday, February 3.
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