Lady Indians Earn Exciting Win to Place Third in NWKL Tournament
The Lady Indians earned an exciting come-from-behind win to place third in the Northwest Kansas League Basketball Tournament in Quinter on Saturday, January 20. The Lady Indians trailed by as many as twelve points late in the second period, earned the lead late in the third quarter, but trailed again with only 20 seconds remaining. Reagan Beims nailed a contested three in the final seconds to help St. Francis earn a 43-42 win over the Dighton Lady Hornets.
St. Francis won the tip, but committed a turnover on their first possession of the contest. Taighe Weeter opened the scoring with a coast-to-coast drive after a blocked shot by Hanna Bracelin. Another SF turnover followed, and Dighton's Mallory Dowel (5' 7" Sr.) scored from the left wing. Then Ella Roberts (5' 11" So.) scored on a left-hand jump-hook. The Lady Indians committed turnovers on four of their first six possessions, but an assist from Lauren Johnson eventually led to another Weeter basket, this one from the left corner. Dighton's turnovers were mounting quickly also, and soon a lane basket by Beims gave St. Francis a 6-4 lead. Dowell followed with a basket from the left-wing. Dighton took their first lead of the contest on an out-of-bounds play, when 5'8" senior Maritza Chavarria scored from the left elbow. At the other end of the floor, Weeter was fouled on a drive, making one of two. After the addition of a Chavarria stick-back basket, St. Francis called time-out at 2:04. Roberts scored the next basket on a strong offensive rebound (plus one) extending the Lady Hornets' lead to six (7-13). Late in the first period, the Lady Indians would add an out-of-bounds play basket by Bracelin (assist Karly Bandel) and Roberts would add a lay-up on press offense. St. Francis trailed 9-13 at the first quarter break.
Karly Bandel drained a top-of-the-key trey on the first possession of the second period on an assist from Hanna Bracelin. Roberts answered from the post on the following Dighton possession, and Dowell followed with a bucket from the right corner. The Lady Hornets' lead was now seven (12-19). Taighe Weeter chipped in an offensive rebound basket, but the Hornets would continue to increase the margin getting two free-throws from Chavarria, two free-throws by Roberts, and basket by Gentry Shapland (5' 6" Jr.) after another Lady Indian turnover. The deficit was now 12 (14-26), and the Lady Indians desperately needed to score. Dighton attempted to work the basketball to take the final shot of the half, but a deflection by Lauren Johnson was secured by Jylian Laten. Reagan Beims tossed in a deep trey with 3 seconds left on the clock (assist Lauren). St. Francis trailed 17-26 at the halftime break.
St. Francis found the basket with more regularity in the third period. Lauren Johnson's assist set up a right-wing trey by Hanna Bracelin to open the period. Bracelin returned the favor setting up Johnson's trey a short time later. An assist by Karly Bandel led to the next Johnson basket; this one in the lane. The score moved the scoreboard to 25-26 and triggered a Dighton time-out at 3:04. The Lady Indians had struggled to score in the second period, and it was now Dighton's turn. After the time-out, Roberts added two free-throws. At 2:22, a left-wing trey by Weeter tied the contest at 28-all. At 1:44, a nice assist from Bracelin led to a post basket by Weeter giving St. Francis their first lead since early in the game (30-28). After free-throws by Roberts and Chavarria, Lindsey Johnson made a powerful move in the lane to score (plus one) with 3.4 seconds left. Johnson missed the "and one," but the Lady Indians had erased the 12-point deficit and now led 32-30.
A high-post basket by Roberts opened the final period tying the contest. A left-wing trey by Lauren Johnson (assist Weeter) returned the lead to St. Francis. St. Francis committed another turnover between back-to-back steals by Lindsey Johnson. At 5:57, St. Francis called time-out leading 35-32. After returning to the floor, Hanna Bracelin added a basket in the lane, and Lauren added a left-corner trey. The Lady Indians advantage moved to 40-32. It was now Dighton's turn for a bit of momentum. Back-to-back turnovers by the Lady Indians led to the next two Dighton scores. Roberts added two free-throws and a high-post basket. At 2:58, an out-of-bounds play score by Shapland triggered a St. Francis time-out. Roberts then scored on a well-executed pick-and-roll to tie the game at 40-all with 2:15 to go. At 2:01, Weeter missed the front-end of a one-and-one, and Dighton called time-out after securing the rebound. At 1:21, another Lady Indian turnover resulted in a right-corner basket by Dowel. On the next SF possession, yet another turnover was recorded by the Lady Indians. At 37.3, trailing by two, Bracelin fouled Shapland. Shapland missed the front-end of the one-and-one opportunity, and Lauren Johnson secured the rebound. With 23 seconds left, Reagan Beims swished a well-contested trey from the left-wing giving St. Francis a one-point lead. Dighton called time-out to discuss strategy with 15.6 seconds remaining. Shapland's shot attempt from the free-throw area rimmed off and the Lady Hornets were called for a rebounding foul. (See video clip below.)
Bandel missed the front-end of a one-and-one with 4 seconds left, and the Lady Hornets rebound the basketball. Robert's half-court shot at the buzzer failed to find the intended target. (See video below.)
The Lady Indians had prevailed in thrilling fashion. St. Francis defeated the Lady Hornets 43-42 to win third place in the NWKL Tournament.
Dighton's fine post player Ella Roberts led all scorers with 22 points. Dowel added 8 and Chavarria 7 to the Lady Hornets' total. Dighton made 12 of 17 from the line and were called for 14 fouls.
St. Francis was led in scoring by Taighe Weeter with 12 points. Lauren Johnson added 11. Others scoring for the Lady Indians were Reagan Beims 8, Hanna Bracelin 7, Karly Bandel 3, and Lindsey Johnson 2. The Lady Indians committed 16 fouls and had 25 turnovers. St. Francis was 1 of 7 from the stripe.
The Lady Indians will play Rawlins County on Friday, January 26, in Atwood.
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