Indians Swat the Hornets
On Friday evening, January 12, the St. Francis Indians defeated the Dighton Hornets in both games played at St. Francis High School. The junior varsity began the evening with a 46-28 win, and the varsity won a close contest against the Hornets 49-47.
The boys junior varsity game was decided early as the Indians jumped all over the visiting Hornets to lead 11-0 about 5 minutes into the contest. Colton Neitzel started the scoring making 1 of 2 from the line. The free-throw was followed by high-post basket by Draven Houtman and a steal-two by Tayton Weeter. The action triggered a Dighton time-out at 4:37. After returning to action, St. Francis scored the next three baskets; a post-move (assist Jesse Baxter) and stick-back basket by Neitzel and left-elbow shot by Baxter to lead 11-0. Burke Shapland (So.) placed Dighton on the scoreboard with a left-wing shot at 1:12. Shapland soon added a steal-two and drive to trim the St. Francis margin in half. A free-throw by Baxter closed the first period scoring. St. Francis led 12-6.
Bryce Raby scored on a drive to open the second period. Dighton senior Garrett Keal answered with a left-wing trey. St. Francis scored the next five points on a deuce by Kobe Tice and trey by Tayton Weeter. An exchange of treys by Keal and Weeter closed the first half. St. Francis led 22-14 at halftime.
The Indians blew the game open in the third period. Jesse Baxter scored 10 points in the period beginning with a right-elbow basket. An assist from Connor Keller led to the next Baxter score. After a trey by Dighton's Trystan Seifried (Sr.), Baxter scored on an offensive rebound and a drive. Colton Neitzel added two free-throws, then Connor Keller earned a steal-two at the 1:38 mark. The third period ended after a Neitzel high-low assist led to Baxter's fifth basket of the quarter. St. Francis led 36-17.
Tayton Weeter opened the final period with a driving basket. After a right-corner shot and drive by Dighton, Weeter added an offensive rebound basket. A high-low assist from Jesse Baxter to Colton Neitzel at 5:05 gave the Indians a 20-point advantage (42-22). A jumper by Siefried in the lane was answered by another Baxter-Neitzel combo in the lane at the other end of the floor returning the margin to 20. Baxter squeezed one more basket between two scores by the Hornets. St. Francis called time-out at 1:03. Neither team scored again. St. Francis won the junior varsity game 46-28.
St. Francis had three players score in double-figures: Jesse Baxter 15, Tayton Weeter 12, and Colton Neitzel 11. Others adding to the St. Francis point total were Conner Keller, Draven Houtman, Kobe Tice, and Bryce Raby scoring two each. St. Francis made 4 of 6 from the line and committed 8 fouls.
Dighton was led in scoring by Garrett Keal with 10 points. Dighton converted 0 fo 5 from the stripe and had 5 fouls.
In the varsity contest, the teams traded the lead throughout the first half, but St. Francis took the advantage in the second half and never trailed again. St. Francis opened the contest with ragged play and accumulated 13 turnovers in the first half. Junior David Cramer opened the contest with a free-throw line jumper for the Hornets. A baseline shot by senior Logan Lingg gave Dighton a 0-4 advantage. After a time-out four minutes into the game, St. Francis finally scored on a steal-assist by Tate Busse leading to a lay-up by K.C. Krien. Dighton sophomore Kaden Bradstreet followed with a left-corner trey. A right-wing trey by Brady Dinkel and one from the left side by Busse gave the Indians an 8-7 lead at 1:33. Lingg then added an offensive rebound basket. Busse gave the Indians an 11-9 lead at the break with a top-of-the-key trey,
Another Bradstreet trey, this one from the right-corner, placed the Hornets back in front. The addition of two free-throws by sophomore Marcus Rowe and lane basket by Cramer moved the Hornets to a five-point advantage. Tate Busse scored on a floater in the lane, but Cramer added another trey from the right-corner increasing the Dighton lead to six (13-19). Busse added two more treys and Bradstreet a driving basket in the final minutes. Dighton led 19-21 at halftime.
Busse's next trey gave St. Francis the lead for good with 7:05 left in the third period. Dalton Straub added and offensive rebound basket moments later. After a driving score by Cramer, St. Francis recorded a 9-0 run widening the margin to ten points (33-23). In the run, Straub scored on an out-of-bounds play assist from Busse, Richard Johnson scored in the lane on an assist from Straub, and Busse added two buckets from the left wing (trey and deuce). A Rowe basket ended the run, but was followed by another Busse trey, this one from the top-of-the-key. Lingg then added a basket from the right-elbow and another on a drive. Two Busse free-throws were followed by a score by Brady Dinkel (assist Adam Krien). St. Francis now led 40-29. A final Dighton basket by freshman Blaine Whipple closed the quarter at 40-31.
The fourth quarter scoring opened with a post basket by Dalton Straub. Bradstreet followed with a post basket for the Hornets moments later. With the addition of a Cramer stick-back (plus one) and another post score by Bradstreet, the Hornets closed the margin to 42-38. Straub answered with a basket ending the 6-point run by the Hornets. At 4:25, the Indians took a time-out to discuss strategy, but Bradstreet was next to score draining a trey from the left-wing to close the gap to 44-41. At 2:58, an assist from Tate Busse led to a top-of-the-key trey by Brady Dinkel. On the next Indian possession, Busse was fouled driving to the basket and made 1 of 2 (48-41). Dighton was not going to give-up and soon added a wing shot by Lingg. After another St. Francis time-out at 1:23, Dighton added a turnover-two by Bradstreet again closing the margin to three (48-45). After the score, Dighton called time-out with 57 seconds remaining. With 45 seconds left, Adam Krien was fouled by the Hornets. Adam made 1 of 2 to make the score 49-45. At 0:26, Logan Lingg scored in the lane for Dighton, and the Hornets immediately called time-out. With 16 seconds left, Busse was called for a carry avoiding defenders while dribbling. After Dighton gained possession, a steal by Brady Dinkel led to a potential break-away by Busse, but Busse was fouled on the play. Busse missed the first shot of the one-and-one with 6 seconds left. St. Francis earned another steal in the final seconds to preserve the win. St. Francis defeated a scrappy Dighton team 49-47.
Tate Busse led the Indians in scoring with 28 points. Dalton Straub and Brady Dinkel each added 8. Others adding to the SF total were K.C. Krien, 2, Richard Johnson 2, and Adam Krien 1. The Indians committed 10 fouls and made 4 of 7 from the line.
Dighton had three players in double-figures: Logan Lingg 14, Kaden Bradstreet 13, and David Cramer 11. The Hornets made 2 of 4 from the stripe and were called for 12 fouls.
St. Francis will play in the Northwest Kansas League Tournament in Quinter on Tuesday, January 16.
Click the photos to see more photos!
