Indians Win Second Place in Sagebrush Shootout
The Indians suffered through one of their coldest shooting nights in memory on Saturday, December 9th. It was a poor time to have an off-shooting evening as the Logan Trojans were a formidable opponent. The Trojans worked hard defensively, possessed good offensive skills, and aggressively crashed the boards. The Indians gave outstanding effort also, but just could not overcome some early shooting woes. St. Francis lost to a good Logan team in the championship contest 48-51.
Two Indians won individual honors at the tournament. Brady Dinkel won the boys free-throw contest. Brady sank 19 of 25 in the finals to earn the win. Brady made 24 of 25 in the qualifying round. Tate Busse made 16 treys (in a minute) to win the boys three-point contest. Tate was also selected to the five-man All Tournament Team. Congratulations, Brady and Tate!
St. Francis hit two early treys in the contest, one by Brady Dinkel and one by Tate Busse. The shots gave the Indians an early 6-0 lead. Then, the Indians began to struggle offensively, getting good looks at the basket, but failing to convert. Logan earned the next three baskets, a post-move bucket by Nicheal Daniels (6' 0" Jr.), a driving score by Riley Allen (6' 1" Sr.) after an Indian turnover, and a post basket by Allen. St. Francis would regain the lead on a free-throw by Dalton Straub, but the advantage would be short-lived. Four more points by Allen (offensive rebound and two free-throws), put the Trojans ahead for good. Richard Johnson scored on an offensive rebound for the Indians in the closing moments of the first quarter. St. Francis trailed 9-10 at the first quarter break.
Dalton Straub opened the second period on what appeared to be a very strong post move basket. The basket was canceled due to a foul on Logan. Daniels then added another post basket, and Colton Greving (6' 3' Sr.) went coast-to-coast after securing a rebound to give the Trojans a 5-point lead (9-14). At 5:26, Logan used their first time-out. Tate Busse then added 1 of 2 from the line. After several minutes of unrewarded effort by both teams, Allen scored on another offensive rebound. St. Francis took a time-out at 2:56 trailing 10-16. Logan increased the lead to ten points (10-20) with the addition of a post basket by Daniels and drive by Lane Stapelton (6' 0" Sr.). Richard Johnson earned a pair of free-throws by working hard on the offensive boards late in the period. Stapelton's free-throw line jumper was the final score of the half. St. Francis did not score a basket in the second period as the Indians' shooting woes continued. St. Francis trailed at halftime 12-22.
Logan took a time-out very early in the third period to discuss strategy. The Indians shooting was much improved in the third period. Tate Busse opened with a top-of-the-key trey. Greving answered with a high-post jumper and a free-throw. At 5:13, the lights in the west side of the gymnasium went out and a delay of approximately 10 minutes occurred until play was resumed. Busse scored consecutive baskets (coast-to-coast drive; baseline drive) narrowing the margin to 19-26. Logan responded with three consecutive baskets; a left-corner trey by Greving, a right-wing trey by Trey Kats (5' 9" So.), and an offensive rebound basket by Allen. The flurry increased the margin to 19-34. The run ended after back-to-back free-throws by Dalton Straub. Greving's next shot swished from the left corner increasing the Trojan's lead to sixteen (21-37). Brady Dinkel's assist set up another Busse trey from the top-of-the key, and Adam Krien made basket on a strong drive to the goal. At the end of three quarters, St. Francis trailed 26-39 after the addition of a Greving baseline drive.
The Indians continued to play hard in the final period and nearly earned an exciting come-from-behind victory. Tate Busse's right-wing trey opened the final period and trimmed the margin to 10 points. A steal by Adam Krien set up a score by Dalton Straub on a Busse assist. With 6:27 remaining, Logan called time-out to regroup leading 31-39. After returning to the floor, the Trojans were whistled for a three-second violation giving St. Francis the basketball. The Indians failed to score on the possession. At 5:43, Kats scored for Logan on a drive. Richard Johnson answered with an offensive rebound basket. A lane basket by Stapelton was followed by a deep top-of-the key trey by Busse (36-43). Logan responded with consecutive baskets; a coast-to-coast drive by Stapelton and a post-move bucket by Allen (36-47). Straub followed with a right elbow basket (assist Busse), but Daniels scored from the post on the opposite end. Busse's trey at 1:55 trimmed the margin to 40-49, and Brady Dinkel's trey from the right corner on the next Indian possession (1:30) gave the Indians hope (43-49). Logan called time-out with 1:29 left in the game. Five seconds after returning to the floor, the Indians fouled Daniels. Nichael stepped to the line and calmly sank both attempts. Straub's left-wing trey at 1:02 narrowed the spread to 46-51. Seconds later, Logan committed a turnover, and St. Francis called time-out with 50 seconds remaining. Busse's driving basket soon moved the Indians within three (48-51). Needing to preserve the clock for offense, St. Francis fouled Stapelton with 28 seconds left. Lane missed the first shot of the one-and-one, and Straub secured the rebound. At the other end, a shot attempt by Straub failed, Logan rebounded, and the Indians fouled with 11 ticks left. Again, the Trojans missed the front-end of a one-and-one, and Straub rebounded the basketball. With 8 seconds left. St. Francis called time-out to discuss strategy. Busse's shot from the left corner rimmed out. The Trojans defeated the Indians 48-51.
St. Francis was led in scoring by Tate Busse with 28 points. Dalton Straub added 10, Richard Johnson 6, Brady Dinkel 6, and Adam Krien 2. St. Francis was 6 of 8 from the free-throw line.
Logan had three players score in double figures: Colton Greving 14, Riley Allen 14, and Nichael Daniels 10. The Trojans made 4 of 6 from the line.
St. Francis will play Dundy County / Stratton on Friday, December 15th, in Benkelman.
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