Girls Defeated Again by Golden Plains
The Lady Indians split their games with Golden Plains on Saturday afternoon in St. Francis. The junior varsity Lady Indians defeated Golden Plains in a two-quarter contest 17-11. The varsity Lady Indians lost to the Lady Bulldogs for the second time this season. The #4 (Class A - Division II) ranked Lady Bulldogs defeated the Lady Indians 28-47.
In the junior varsity contest, Alondra Gomez drained a trey early in the game, but Golden Plains's (GP) Brooke Stoll (Fr.) soon followed with a deuce from the left baseline. A right-wing basket by Gomez and two free-throws by Karly Bandel gave the Lady Indians a 7-2 advantage. A Bandel assist led to a left-wing score by Emma Johnson. Johnson then added a top-of-the-key trey to give St. Francis a 10-point (13-3) lead. GP's Emily Stoltz (So.) made one-of-two from the line before the quarter closed. St. Francis led 13-4 at the break.
Hannah Zimbal added a free-throw early in the final period, then the Lady Bulldogs made a run. A top-of-the-key trey by Brooke Stoll started the surge. Ashley Stoll (Fr.) followed with an offensive rebound score and Amanda Cheney (Jr.) added a fast-break basket. Though the Lady Indians earned a free-throw in the mix, the advantage was reduced to 15-11. The Lady Indians won the shortened contest 17-11 after earning a break basket by Hannah Zimbal (assist Alondra Gomez).
Golden Plains began the varsity contest with aggressive full court pressure. The Lady Indians did not handle the basketball well and committed at least 14 turnovers in the first half. The early miscues resulted in empty possessions and more shot attempts for the Lady Bulldogs. St. Francis never led in the contest. Maggi Nierman (Sr.) placed the Lady Bulldogs on the scoreboard first with a right-wing trey. Hanna Bracelin answered with a trey for the Lady Indians moments later (assist Lauren Johnson). It would be the only tie of the contest. Golden Plains' outstanding guard, Kaycee Miller, added a pull-up jumper in the lane, and after a St. Francis turnover, Nierman chipped in two more. A Nierman trey preceded a Miller drive (plus one) and the Lady Bulldogs had a ten-point lead (3-13). Following another Lady Indian turnover, Miller scored again increasing the deficit to 12. Johnson swished a shot from the left-wing (assist Karly Bandel), but Ashley Stoll (Fr.) answered moments later. Bracelin scored the final basket of the first period to bring the score to 7-17.
The tone of the contest had been set. Though the Lady Indians play improved throughout the contest, Golden Plains slowly increased their advantage as the game progressed. Mabel Lugo (So.) opened the the second quarter scoring with a baseline drive. Lauren Johnson answered from the right-wing (assist Taighe Weeter). A steal by Reagan Beims resulted in a trey by Hanna Bracelin trimming the GP lead. At 6:56, the Lady Bulldogs called time-out to regroup. Miller scored on the next possession for GP, but Bracelin added another trey trimming the lead to 6 (15-21). It was as close as the Lady Indians would get. GP scored the next 8 points. Noel Ritter (Jr.) added scores from the post and on an offensive rebound. Miller added a post basket and a pair of free-throws. St. Francis trailed at halftime 15-29.
The Lady Indians controlled the basketball much better in the second half, but the outstanding play of Miller made it difficult for the Lady Indians to recover. After a third-quarter opening free-throw by Hannah Bracelin, Miller scored on a drive. Lindsey Johnson then added an offensive rebound basket and Karly Bandel a top-of-the-key trey. Emma Johnson's left-wing trey reduced the deficit to 24-31. Miller then added a trey and a driving basket to slow the Lady Indians advance. After a Bracelin score in the lane, Nieman drained a shot at the buzzer. The Lady Indians trailed 26-38 at the third-quarter break.
Neither team scored much in the final stanza, but the Lady Indians could only muster two points in the period on a pair of free-throws by Taighe Weeter. The charity tosses came in the closing minute of the contest after the Lady Indians had fallen behind by 21 points (26-47). St. Francis lost to a good Golden Plains team 28-47.
Golden Plains' Kaycee Miller led all scorers with 22 points. Maggi Nieman added 13 to Lady Bulldogs score. The Lady Bulldogs made only 3 of 11 from the stripe and committed 12 fouls.
St. Francis was led in scoring by Hanna Bracelin with 14 points. Others scoring for St. Francis were Lauren Johnson 4, Emma Johnson and Karly Bandel each with 3, Taighe Weeter and Lindsey Johnson each with 2. The Lady Indians made 3 of 4 from the stripe and were whistled for 13 fouls.
The Lady Indians will play Weskan, in Weskan, on Tuesday, January 9.
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