Lady Indians Defeat Wallace County
JV Team Loses
The St. Francis Lady Indians earned another win on Tuesday evening, February 21, defeating the 9th-ranked Wallace County Lady Wildcats 53-47 in St. Francis. The win balanced the Lady Indians season record at 10-10. The junior varsity team lost to Wallace County in a close two-quarter contest 13-14.
In varsity action, the Lady Indians led throughout most of the contest, only trailing on two occasions in the early portion of the contest. The Lady Indians earned a lead as great as 15 points in the third period, but the scrappy Wallace County (WC) team trimmed the lead to three twice late in the contest. Zoe Sundstrom opened the contest with a score from the post on an assist by Hannah Bracelin. Wallace County scored the next five points to lead 2-5, their largest lead of the contest. A Sundstrom free-throw and an out-of-bounds play basket by Bracelin soon tied the contest. The Lady Indians earned a 9-5 advantage with the addition of a Bracelin jumper in the lane and score from the block by Taighe Weeter. With 2:30 left in the first period, a trey by WC's Sydni Allen (5' 5" junior) narrowed the advantage to one (9-8). St. Francis responded with an assist from Lauren Johnson on a score by Lindsey Johnson, but a post-move basket by Haylee Hennick (plus one) tied the game. The play also sent Bracelin to the bench for a while with her second foul. St. Francis followed with a trey and a deuce by Taighe Weeter (assist La. Johnson) increasing the lead to five (16-11). The Lady Indians led 16-15 at the end of the first quarter, after two late scores by the Lady Cats.
Wallace County earned their second lead of the contest (16-17) on a basket by Hannah Pletcher after a turnover by the Lady Indians approximately a minute into the second period. A left-baseline shot by Weeter (assist Karly Bandel) returned the lead to the Lady Indians moments later. Weeter's next basket (assist La. Johnson) was followed by an offensive rebound score by WC. Two Bracelin free-throws and a left-wing trey by Bandel increased the margin to 25-19. After a St. Francis time-out, the Lady Indians scored on a shot by Bracelin (assist Bandel) and a drive by Lauren Johnson increasing the lead to double-digits (29-19). WC's Carli Haislip followed with a top-of-the-key trey. St. Francis led 31-22 at halftime after the addition of a stick-back basket by Bracelin.
A six-point run by the Lady Indians to open the second half extended the margin to 15 points (37-22). In the run the Lady Indians received two baskets by Taighe Weeter and one by Reagan Beims. The run ended on a score by WC's Cassidy Kreigh. An assist by Karly Bandel led to a score in the lane by Zoe Sundstrom, but then the Lady Wildcats begin to chip away at the deficit. A stick-back basket and a pair of free-throws trimmed the margin to 11 before the Lady Indians earned a score by Lindsey Johnson (assist Sundstrom). Three consecutive baskets by WC, further trimmed the margin to 7 (41-34) by the third quarter horn.
A driving basket by Pletcher, her third consecutive score, narrowed the lead to three (41-38) early in the final period and triggered a St. Francis time-out at 5:52. After returning to the floor, the Lady Indians earned a left-wing basket by Hanna Bracelin halting the 10-0 WC run. Pletcher followed with an offensive rebound score. After two Bracelin free-throws, Pletcher scored again on a drive at 3:31 (45-42). Bracelin's next score (assist Sundstrom) was answered by a steal-two by Pletcher. At 1:44, Pletcher received her 5th foul. It was a major development in the contest as Pletcher had scored the last 12 points for the Lady Wildcats. St. Francis became very deliberate with the basketball, and WC was forced to foul. St. Francis added a basket by Reagan Beims (assist La Johnson) and made 4 of 6 from the stripe in the last 55 seconds of the game to preserve a 53-47 victory.
Wallace County was led in scoring by Hannah Pletcher (5' 7" senior) with 14 points. Cassidy Kriegh (5' 6" senior) added 10. Haylee Hennick (5' 9" freshman) and Carli Haislip (5' 7" junior) each scored 7.
St. Francis was led by Hanna Bracelin with 18 points and Taighe Weeter with 16. Others scoring for the Lady Indians included Zoe Sundstrom 5, Lindsey Johnson 4, Reagan Beims 4, Lauren Johnson 3, and Karly Bandel 3.
The two-quarter junior varsity contest was close throughout. St. Francis led 6-3 after one quarter of play receiving an offensive rebound basket by Lindsey Johnson, a left-elbow shot by Lauren Johnson (assist Madi Tice), and a driving score by Alondra Gomez.
Wallace County narrowed the score to 6-5 capitalizing on an early turnover by the Lady Indians in the final period. Alondra Gomez answered with an offensive rebound score for the Lady Indians. At 2:50, another turnover-two cut the advantage to one (8-7). On the next Lady Indian turnover, the Lady Wildcats failed to capitalize, and at 2;10, a driving score by Gomez gave St. Francis a 10-7 advantage. An assist from Madi Tice to Hanna Zimbal added two more at 1:45 (12-7). Fourteen seconds later, WC's Leah Ayres banked in a trey from the left wing. With 59 seconds left, WC added another score tying the contest at 12-all. Emileigh Dinkel sank one-of-two with 55 seconds left to give the Lady Indians a narrow one-point lead (13-12). Ayres' steal-two with 8 seconds left sealed the win for the Lady Wildcats. St. Francis lost the junior varsity game 13-14.
The Lady Indians will be competing in the Sub-State Basketball Tournament in Quinter next week.
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