Third Place Game Decided in Double Overtime
St. Francis 56, Burlingame 59
The Indians lost an double overtime heartbreaker in the third place game of the Kansas State Basketball Tournament on Saturday, March 11. An aggressive and talented Burlingame team led by a small margin throughout most the contest, but the Indians took the lead with just over five minutes to play. St. Francis led for about two and a half minutes during the fourth period and for 1:19 late in the second overtime. The game was decided on a three-point buzzer-beater by the Bearcats. St. Francis was defeated by Burlingame 56-59.
Both teams seemed a bit "tight" in the early minutes of the contest. St. Francis missed several point-blank scoring opportunities in the opening minutes. The Indians took a 2-0 lead on two-of-four free-throws by Brock Waters early in the contest. At 5:58, Burlingame began a 9-point run that ended late in the quarter. The Bearcats scored on a drive, a left-corner trey, and two jumpers in the lane to take a 2-9 lead. Late in the period, Waters scored for the Indians on a nice spin-move in the lane. St. Francis trailed 4-9 after one period. The Indians had struggled from the field, making only 1 of 13 during the period. Burlingame connected on 4 of 15.
The Bearcats increased their advantage to double digits early in the second period scoring twice in the first minute of action. A fast-break basket by Tate Busse (plus one) trimmed the deficit a bit, but Burlingame's Seth Greenwood (6' 0" sophomore) drained a left-corner trey to re-establish the double digit lead. Taylor Rogers made one-of-two from the stripe moments later. At 3:45, Jacob Thompson's (6' 3" junior) baseline drive increased the deficit to eleven (8-19). In approximately 30 seconds, Busse responded with consecutive treys to trim the margin to six (14-19). A pair of Thompson free-throws preceded a driving score by Quinton Cravens. The quarter closed after an old-fashioned three-point play on an offensive rebound by the Bearcats and a high-screen trey by Busse. St. Francis trailed at halftime 19-24.
The Indians returned to the court with determination, crashing the boards aggressively and playing deliberately on offense. The aggressive play gradually closed the deficit as the second half unfolded. After an opening score by Greenwood, Tate Busse swished a shot from the left-elbow (plus one). A basket by Montana Giffin preceded two free-throws by Brock Waters. At 5:05, a trey by Giffin extended the lead to nine (23-32). Quinton Cravens responded with two free-throws by after being fouled on an offensive rebound and then drained a high-post jumper. Busse's steal-three at 3:22 moved the Indians within two (30-32). At 3:11, Jeremiah Neitzel picked up his fourth foul and left the game; the Bearcats failed to capitalize on the two charity tosses. The Indians did not score in the final three minutes of the third period, while the Bearcats added two more baskets. St. Francis trailed 30-36 after three quarters of action.
Early in the final period,Quinton Cravens and Brock Waters (plus one) each scored on aggressive offensive rebounds. At 7:10, Burlingame called time-out to discuss strategy. With 5:37 remaining, Cravens sank consecutive free-throws to give St. Francis their first lead since early in the contest (37-36). At 4:35, Tate Busse was fouled attempting a jump-shot, and added two more to the Indians' point total (39-36). At 3:29, the Indians had difficulty in-bounding the basketball against the Bearcats' aggressive defense and were called for a 5-second violation. The Bearcats did not capitalize on the possession; missing the front-end of a one-and-one. Moments later, the Bearcats scored to tie the game at 39-all. At 2:45, Busse was called for an offensive foul on a drive, turning the ball back to the Bearcats. A trey by Giffin at the 1:20 mark moved Burlingame back into the lead (39-41) and triggered a St. Francis time-out. With 48 seconds left, Waters scored on another offensive rebound for the Indians. With the game tied, Burlingame elected to work for the final shot of the game. The Bearcats missed a trey attempt at the buzzer. The game moved to overtime tied at 41-all.
Burlingame scored the first two baskets of the overtime on drives by Thompson and Colton Noonan (5' 10" junior). Taylor Rogers picked up his fourth foul with 2:10 left, but the Bearcats failed to make the free-throw. Tate Busse's trey with approximately two minutes left moved the Indians back within one (44-45). Seconds later, Rogers received his 5th foul, and Noonan's "and one" placed Burlingame at a four-point advantage (44-48). At 1:27, Brock Waters scored on a drive for the Indians. Burlingame called time-out. With 49.1 seconds to go, the Indians fouled again, and the Bearcats missed the single free-throw. After advancing the ball up court, the Indians called time-out to set up an offensive play. After returning to the floor, Brock Waters was fouled driving to the goal, and made two-of-two retying the game at 48-all.
The Bearcats quickly moved the ball up court and called time-out to discuss strategy.
The Bearcats missed their last-second shot attempt, Waters grabbed the rebound, and the Indians called time-out.
After discussing strategy, the Indians elected to in-bound the ball and go to the second overtime.
At 3:33 in the second overtime, Burlingame's Seth Greenwood drained a long deuce from near the top-of-the key. Six seconds later, Tate Busse added two free-throws to the Indians side of the scoreboard. Nine seconds after the Busse free-throws, Zach Herrick scored on a drive, but failed to convert the "and one." With 3:01 remaining, the Indians used another time-out trailing 50-52. At 2:53, Busse scored on an aggressive drive down the lane. After a Burlingame miss at the opposite end, Quinton Cravens scored on an offensive rebound "and one" giving the Indians a 55-52 advantage with 2:11 remaining in the second overtime. Thompson's jumper in the lane answered at the other goal (55-54). The Indians committed a turnover on their next possession, and Herrick scored on a lay-up returning the lead to the Bearcats (55-56). At 52.3, Waters was fouled on an offensive rebound making one-of-two to tie the game again. Again, the Bearcats held the basketball for the final shot. On their third consecutive period-ending possession, the Bearcats' Zach Herrick swished a game-ending buzzer-beater trey. St. Francis lost and exciting double-overtime thriller to the Burlingame Bearcats 56-59.
Tate Busse led all scorers in the contest with 26 points. Brock Waters added 14 and Quinton Cravens 13 for the Indians. Jacob Thompson (6' 3" junior) led the Bearcats with 18 points. Montana Giffin (6' 1" sophomore) scored 11 and Zach Herrick (6' 0" junior) 10 for Burlingame. Others scoring for the Indians were Brady Dinkel 2, and Taylor Rogers 1. The Indians shot only 30.8% from the field for the game (18-52) while the Bearcats hit 24-55 for 43.6%. The Indians won the battle on the glass gathering 40 rebounds to 30 for the Bearcats. Both teams had 19 fouls. The Indians committed 14 turnovers, the Bearcats 13.
With the loss, the Indians completed a very successful season with a record of 22-4 and a fourth place finish in the State Tournament. Congratulations to the players and coaches Corey Busse and Devin Dinkel for an exceptional season.
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