Lady Indians Split Games with Greeley County
The Lady Indians split their games with the Greeley County Lady Jackrabbits in Tribune on Friday, February 17. The junior varsity Lady Indians defeated Greeley County 17-8 in a two-quarter contest to open the evening. The varsity Lady Indians battled hard but lost a one-point decision, 53-52.
In junior varsity action, Greeley County (GC) took a 3-0 lead after an opening free-throw and long bank shot by Caela Ibarra. Emileigh Dinkel's post basket was followed by an assist to Alondra Gomez giving the Lady Indians the lead (4-3) with 2:45 left in the first period. Dinkel's next assist found Jylian Laten cutting to the basket. Dinkel then connected on consecutive free-throws moving the score to 8-3 after one period.
Hannah Zimbel opened the second period with a free-throw. GC's Kamryn Yournans followed with a left-wing trey narrowing the advantage to 9-6. St. Francis responded with a right-corner score by Mallory Mills and a stick-back basket by Zimbal extending the lead to 13-6. After a basket by GC's Lauren Crotinger, Jylian Laten scored on a back-door cut and then sank to two free-throws to make the final score 17-8.
The varsity game was close throughout, with a much-improved Greeley County team playing just well enough to earn a one-point victory. The Lady Indians also showed improvement, limiting their turnovers to 19, scoring more than 50 points, and making several nice passes offensively throughout the contest. Greeley County scored the first basket of the contest on a deep bank shot by Irelyn Elder. Two free-throws by Hanna Bracelin soon tied the contest. Though the Lady Indians missed three lay-up opportunities in the first few minutes of the contest, they eventually took a 4-2 lead on an assist by Reagan Beims to Zoe Sundstrom. Caela Ibarra soon tied the game with two foul shots. An assist by Sundstrom set up a fast-break score by Taighe Weeter (plus one) and triggered a GC time-out at 4:35. After the time-out, Weeter scored on a steal-two, but GC answered with two quick post baskets closing the advantage to one (9-8). Bracelin added a post basket (assist Lauren Johnson) but it was answered by a stick-back basket by GC's Hannah Brandl. Lauren Johnson added two free-throws before a left-wing trey by Elder tied the game at 13-all with 36 seconds left in the period. The addition of a free-throw and fast-break basket by Brandl gave the Lady Jackrabbits the lead at the first quarter break, 13-16.
The back-and-forth action would continue as the teams battled almost evenly throughout the night. In the first half, there were 5 ties and 7 lead changes. St. Francis opened the second period with a basket by Taighe Weeter (assist Lauren Johnson) and two free-throws by Karly Bandel to retake the lead (17-16) at the 6:26 mark. The lead was short-lived, as the Lady Rabbits' Brandl scored from the block on the next possession. Two free-throws by Hanna Bracelin and Brandl preceded a fast-break basket by GC's Lauren Crotinger. The score gave Greeley County a 19-22 lead and triggered a St. Francis time-out with 5:17 left in the second period. Weeter trimmed the lead to one (assist Johnson), but Brandl responded with two charity tosses. With 3:50 left in the first half, a trey by Karly Bandel (assist Weeter) tied the contest at 24-all. Twenty-five seconds later, a Weeter trey gave the Lady Indians the lead, 27-24. Again, the lead lasted only seconds as Ibarra swished a trey at the opposite end of the court on the next possession. With 1:45 left in the half, another Johnson assist led to a left-baseline score by Bracelin. The 29-27 lead would be the last lead the Lady Indians would possess. At 1:21, Elder drained a shot from the left-wing retying the game at 29-all. The teams went to the locker room searching for a way to gain an advantage.
The Lady Jackrabbits opened the third period with a 7-point run; an Elder trey and deep bank shot and two free-throws by Ibarra). Nearly four minutes into the quarter, Lauren Johnson scored from the right-elbow (assist Zoe Sundstrom). Hanna Bracelins' assist led to a Sundstrom post score trimming the deficit to three (33-36). A driving score by Mattie Brandl and a high-post jumper by Hannah Brandl soon matched the Lady Indians gain. St. Francis called time-out with 2:48 remaining to re-group trailing 33-40. In the closing moments of the period, the Lady Indians earned two free-throws by Bandel and a post basket by Bracelin (assist Sundstrom) to make the score 37-40 at the third quarter break.
GC's Morgan Woelk opened the final period with an offensive rebound basket and H. Brandl followed with a post score. Bracelin countered with a left-wing jumper (assist Johnson) but the margin became nine (39-48) after a drive by Ibarra and two more Brandl free-throws. With 4:30 remaining, Bracelin scored on an out-of-bounds play trey, and Reagan Beims followed with a driving score (44-48). With approximately three minutes remaining, Ibarra scored a lay-in basket. At 2:35, Beims scored on a cut after a nice assist by Bracelin (46-50). On the next possession, Ibarra scored from the post. St. Francis had opportunities in the closing moments. The Lady Indians missed two free-throws, and could not capitalize on consecutive turnovers by Greeley County. GC also helped open the door by missing the front-end of a one-and-one and a lay-up. With 32 seconds left, Bracelin swished a trey from the left-wing (49-52) make it a one-possession game. The Lady Indians did not get a foul until there was 8.1 seconds left. Woelk drained one-of-two sealing the game. Beims drained a banking trey (assist Johnson) just before the buzzer to make the final score 52-53.Greeley County had three players in double-figures. Hannah Brandl (junior) played a strong game in the post for the Lady Rabbits and netted 17 points. Irelyn Elder (senior) chipped in 15 points. Caela Ibarra (junior) added 14 points (6 in the final period). The Lady Jackrabbits made 12 of 23 from the line.
St. Francis was led in scoring by Hanna Bracelin with 18 points. Taighe Weeter added 12 (all in the first half). Other Lady Indians scoring were Reagan Beims 7 (all in the 4th period), Karly Bandel 7, Lauren Johnson 4, and Zoe Sundstrom 4. St. Francis was 11 of 16 from the stripe.
The Lady Indians will play Wallace County on Tuesday, February 21, in St. Francis.
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