Indians Lose to Undefeated Hoxie
The Hoxie Indians scored 20 or more points in three of four quarters on Friday evening enroute to a 55-81 win over the Indians. The #2-ranked (KBCA) Hoxie Indians drained 15 treys and received 38 points from Easton Slipke in the win. St. Francis competed well hanging within striking distance throughout the first half, but could not keep pace with the high-scoring Hoxie team. The same scenario occurred in the junior varsity game. The Indians gradually fell behind by a greater margin as the clock ticked away. The Indians lost the junior varsity contest 23-51.
Sean Robben (Jr.) scored the first basket of the varsity contest for Hoxie. Tate Busse followed with deuce and a trey giving St. Francis a three-point advantage. The Indians' lead would not last long as Jarrod Dible (Jr.) swished a trey to tie the contest moments later. After a left-corner basket by Dalton Straub, Dible nailed a trey from the top-of-the-key. Brady Dinkel then found Busse open on the baseline and a nice pass from Dinkel set up another St. Francis score. Two minutes into the game, the Indians led 9-8, and it appeared the pace was going to be frantic. On the next Hoxie possession, Easton Slipke, Hoxie's outstanding senior guard, drained a three-ball from the right-wing. It would be the first of 10 treys Slipke would make in the game. Wyatt Hackler's assist on a cut by K.C. Krien led to the next Indian score tying the game at 11-all. The scoring would diminish as both teams began to find it more difficult to get good shots. A jump-hook by Robben in the lane gave Hoxie a two-point advantage, but a driving score (plus one) by Busse gave St. Francis a 14-13 advantage. It would be the last lead the Indians would hold in the contest. After a Hoxie time-out at 3:33, Slipke drained another trey from the right corner. Latham Schwarz (Sr.) added a fast-break basket before Slipke drained his third trey of the period. The deficit grew to 14-21 in about one minute. Dalton Straub added a post basket and shot from the free-throw circle before the quarter ended helping the Indians' cause. St. Francis trailed 18-21 after one quarter of play.
At 7:10 in the second period, Tate Busse's pass set up a left-wing trey by Brady Dinkel tying the contest (21-21). Only one basket was scored in the next four minutes, a top-of-the-key trey by Hoxie's Logan Weimer (Jr.). At 3:10, Slipke struck again; this time from the right-corner. Dalton Straub answered with a baseline drive on the next Indian possession. In the last 2:22, Hoxie added two more treys and a deuce. St Francis earned a banking trey by Straub in the final seconds. St. Francis trailed 26-35 at the halftime break.
Slipke opened the third period with a floater in the lane. Dible followed with a spin in the lane. The margin grew to 26-39. After two Busse free-throws, Slipke drained a trey from the top-of-the-key. Busse then added a deep trey and steal-dunk causing Hoxie to call time-out at 4:51. The regrouping worked for Hoxie, as they out-scored the Indians 6-19 in the later portion of the third period. Slipke drained four treys and added two deuces during the period (16 pts.). Though Dalton Straub made a couple of very nice offensive plays in the period, the Indians could not keep pace with the scoring output of Hoxie. St. Francis trailed 39-61 at the end of the third quarter.
Jarrod Dible opened the final period with an "old-fashioned" three-point play. Tate Busse added back-to-back baskets before Weimer and Slipke each scored. Two free-throws by Busse narrowed the margin to 24 (45-69), but that was a close as the Indians would get. Midway through the period the spread reached 31 points after a deep-trey by Slipke, and the running clock was set in motion. St. Francis lost to an excellent Hoxie team 55-81.
It's not often that fans get to see two players with the skills that Easton Slipke and Tate Busse possess go head to head. Tate Busse led St. Francis with 30 points in the contest. Dalton Straub scored 15. Others scoring for St. Francis were Brady Dinkel 6, K.C. Krien 2, Jesse Baxter 2, and Richard Johnson 2. The Indians made 6 of 14 from the line, committed 9 fouls, and had 15 turnovers.
Easton Slipke made 10 treys in the game and totaled 38 points for Hoxie. Jarrod Dible score 16 and Sean Robben 13. Weimer added 8 points. Hoxie made 4 of 4 from the line, tallied 8 turnovers, and were whistled for 14 fouls.
The junior varsity boys game followed a similar pattern with the Hoxie advantage gradually increasing throughout the contest. Hoxie's Harlan Obioha (Fr.) opened the contest with a pair of free-throws. After a free-throw by Connor Keller, Hoxie's Kaden Tremblay (Jr.) added a left-wing trey, and St. Francis' Colton Neitzel swished a jumper from the right-elbow. Jesse Baxter's free-throws tied the game at 5-all. A fast-break basket by Adam Krien gave the Indians a 7-5 advantage, but it would be the last SF points of the quarter. Hoxie would lead 7-12 at the end of the first period after netting a right-corner shot by Tremblay and two post baskets by Obioha.
The Indians added 7 more to their point total before halftime getting a trey by Kobe Tice and deuces from Colton Neitzel and Richard Johnson. Hoxie would get 7 points from Obioha alone and total 16 as a team to extend the margin to 14-28 at halftime.
Adam Krien's left-wing shot opened the third period. Hoxie added the next 6 points getting scores from Tremblay and Parker Jones (So.) to lead 16-34. Richard Johnson added two charity tosses in the mix, but the Indians trailed 18-42 with approximately two minutes remaining. Colton Neitzel added 3 of 4 free-throws in the closing minutes, but the Indians did not score a basket in the period until the final seconds when Connor Keller scored on a drive. St. Francis lost to Hoxie 23-51 in the junior varsity contest.
Scoring for St. Francis were Colton Neitzel 7, Adam Krien 4, Richard Johnson 4, Connor Keller 3, Kobe Tice 3, and Jesse Baxter 2. The Indians made 8 of 15 from the line and committed 10 fouls.
Hoxie was led by Harlan Obioha with 19 points. Kaden Trembly added 14. The visiting Indians made 7 of 9 from the stripe and were called for 13 fouls.
The Indians will play Triplains-Brewster on Tuesday, February 6, in Brewster.
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