Lady Indians Beat Wichita County
The Lady Indians advanced to the championship semi-finals of the Sagebrush Classic Tournament with a 54-39 win over a scrappy Wichita County team on Monday, December 1. Though the Lady Indians did not trail after the closing moments of the first quarter, the Lady Indians found it difficult to get separation from a much improved Wichita County (WC) team. The Lady Indians also found it difficult to contain WC's 5' 11" junior post Nicole Biermann inside. Using good defensive pressure, St. Francis gradually increased the point margin slowly throughout the contest.
Wichita County earned a 0-2 lead in the opening moments of the contest when Sarah Martin (5' 6" junior) banked in a shot from the left-wing. Three free-throws by Reagan Beims gave St. Francis a brief lead until WC added two free-throws by Erica Hermosillo (5' 7" senior). Lauren Johnson's left-wing basket (assist Beims) was answered by a post basket by Nicole Biermann. With the addition of a trey by Mareli Salazar (5' 7" senior), the Lady Indians trailed 5-9 and called time-out at the 2: 20 mark. After returning to the floor, Emileigh Dinkel sank a trey from the top-of-the-key, and Taighe Weeter added a steal-two with 30 seconds left in the period. St. Francis would hold the lead for the remainder of the contest, and led 10-9 after one quarter of play.
Taighe Weeter's stick-back basket (plus one) to open the second period was followed by a Lauren Johnson free-throw. WC countered with a out-of-bounds play score by Biermann. WC narrowed their deficit to one point (14-13) with an offensive rebound score after a missed free-throw. The Lady Indians responded with a free-throw by Lindsey Johnson and free-throw area jump shots by Reagan Beims and Lauren Johnson (assist Jylian Laten). Wichita County called time-out with 3:45 on the clock trailing 19-13. The time-out seemed to help as WC scored on well-executed press offense on the next possession. St. Francis increased their lead to 9 points (24-15) with the addition of two free-throws by Emileigh Dinkel and a right-wing trey by Weeter (assist Laten). Continuing to battle, WC answered with a left-corner trey by Aylin Heredia (5' 4" senior) and a lane basket by Biermann. The Lady Indians' lead had been reduced to 24-20 at halftime.
Taighe Weeter opened the third period with a right-wing trey. Biemann answered with a right-wing deuce for Wichita County. Another Weeter basket from the left-wing (assist Karly Bandel) was answered by a left-wing shot by Salazar. Hanna Bracelin added an offensive rebound basket (plus one) extending the St. Francis lead to eight points (32-24). Biermann followed with another score in the post. After Weeter swished her third shot of the quarter (assist Lindsey Johnson), St. Francis called time-out at 3:19 leading 34-26. Lauren Johnson's out-of-bounds-play basket (assist Bandel) gave St. Francis a hard-earned double-digit lead with 2:30 left in the third period. Again, Biemann scored from the post. And this time, after a St. Francis turnover, Martin added another bucket trimming the lead to seven. St. Francis led 38-30 at the third-quarter break with the addition of a free-throw by Reagan Beims.
The Lady Indians' active zone defensive pressure gradually began to take a toll on the Wichita County team in the final period. The defensive pressure created several turnovers resulting in empty possessions for WC. The Lady Indians would out-score WC 16-9 in the final stanza. After a pair of free-throws by Biermann, Lauren Johnson swished a baseline-jumper on an out-of-bounds-play assist by Karly Bandel. A 6:44, Bandel grabbed and offensive rebound and was fouled adding two more. The Lady Indians had restored their double-digit lead (42-32). After another Biermann free-throw, a fast-break ending in an assist from Bandel to Reagan Beims moved the scoreboard to 44-33. Wichita County called time-out with 4:53 remaining. The next score resulted from an assist by Beims ending in a basket by Emileigh Dinkel (plus one). With 4:10 left, the Lady Indians led 47-33. Another WC turnover led to a Beims post basket increasing the lead to 49-33. St. Francis took a time-out after the addition of two WC free-throws with 3:32 left in the contest. After returning to the floor, Hanna Bracelin added two free-throws and a trey (assist Beims). With just under a minute to play, the Lady Indians took one last time-out leading by 19 (54-35). WC scored the two more baskets before the clock expired; a fast-break basket by Salazar and a right-wing trey by Lorely Orozco (5' 0'" junior). St. Francis advanced to the championship semi-finals with a 54-39 win over Wichita County.
St. Francis was led in scoring by Taighe Weeter with 15 points. Lauren Johnson and Reagan Beims each added 10. Others scoring for St. Francis included Hanna Bracelin 8, Emileigh Dinkel 8, Karly Bandel 2, and Lindsey Johnson 1. St. Francis made 15 of 21 from the stripe.
Wichita County was led by Nicole Biermann with 17 points. Mareli Salazar scored 9. WC made 7 of 11 from the line.
The Lady Indians will play Cheylin in the championship semi-final round of the Sagebrush Classic on Friday, December 8, in the North Gym at Brewster High School.
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