Lady Indians Split Games With Hoxie
The Lady Indians split their basketball games with Hoxie on Friday, February 3. The junior varsity Lady Indians earned a narrow 8-4 victory over Hoxie in a two-quarter contest. The Hoxie varsity team overwhelmed the Lady Indians in a lopsided contest 16-56. The games were played in Hoxie.
The JV contest was a low scoring affair with neither team finding the basket with any regularity. St. Francis scored first on a basket by Emileigh Dinkel. Later in the first quarter, Hoxie took a 2-4 lead after an offensive rebound basket by Trinity Balluch and right corner deuce by Maiah Castle. The Lady Indians tied the contest (4-all) on a right-corner shot by Taighe Weeter (assist Lindsey Johnson). Late in the final quarter, two assists by Karly Bandel set up scores by Dinkel and Hannah Zimbal (out-of-bounds play) giving the Lady Indians an 8-4 win.
The varsity game was closely played throughout the first period. After an initial score by Hoxie's Rebekah Castle from the post, the Lady Indians earned a 4-2 lead on a free-throw and right-corner trey by Hannah Bracelin. An offensive rebound basket by Hoxie's Lilly Schamberger soon tied the contest. A turnover by the Lady Indians soon returned the lead to Hoxie when Macy Schamberger scored after the miscue. A nice pass from Taighe Weeter to Zoe Sundstrom retied the contest at 6-all. Another SF turnover soon led to another lay-up by M. Schamberger. Though the Lady Indians were keeping pace, a pattern of turnovers was beginning to develop. Late in the first period, Lindsey Johnson's assist set up another score by Sundstrom. Hoxie led after one quarter of play, 9-8, after adding a free-throw late in the quarter.
The Lady Indians played nearly evenly with the number 5 ranked (Class 2A) Hoxie girls during the first period, but the 13-2 Hoxie team would soon assert their dominance. Applying pressure defensively and capitalizing on the additional possessions created, the home-standing Lady Indians soon began to pull away. The eighteen first-half turnovers allowed by St. Francis resulted in a 2-17 Hoxie second-quarter blitz. Hoxie opened the second period with a trey by Lilly Schamberger and concluded the quarter with a deep buzzer-beater by Macy Schamberger. Hoxie added four treys during the period. St. Francis only attempted a few shots during the quarter due to numerous turnovers. The Lady Indians trailed 10-26 at halftime after netting only one basket, a left-baseline shot by Taighe Weeter during the quarter.
The second half was much the same. St. Francis tallied two points during the third period and four in the fourth while allowing 16 second-half turnovers. Hoxie opened the third period with three consecutive baskets by Rebekah Castle. Hoxie extended their run to 35-2 before an assist by Taighe Weeter led to a score by Madi Tice in the closing moments of the third period. St. Francis trailed 12-43 after three periods of play.
The final period was played with a running clock due to the 30-point rule. Hoxie advanced their lead to 12-50 (a 42-4 run) before the Lady Indians scored again. Reagan Beims drained a shot in the lane with 5:43 left in the contest. Hoxie continued to increase the margin to 14-56 before a final driving score by Taighe Weeter with 39 seconds remaining. The Lady Indians had struggled while losing to a good Hoxie team 16-56.
Hoxie had four players in double figures: Macy Schamberger (5' 8" sophomore) 15, Lilly Schamberger (5' 9" junior) 14, Rebekah Castle (5' 11" junior) 11, and Brynn Niblock (5' 11" senior) 10. Hoxie converted only 6 of 15 from the free-throw line.
Five players scored for St. Francis. Taighe Weeter, Zoe Sundstrom, and Hanna Bracelin each scored 4. Madi Tice and Reagan Beims each added 2 points. The Lady Indians made 1 of the 4 free-throws they attempted.
The Lady Indians will host Triplains-Brewster on Tuesday, February 7, in St. Francis.
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