Second Half Defense Propels Girls to Win
The Lady Indians earned a 70-42 win over the Greeley County Lady Jackrabbits on Friday, February 16. The teams battled closely for two quarters before the Lady Indians gained full control of the contest in the second half. The Lady Indians were consistent offensively throughout the contest scoring 16 or more points in each of the four periods. The Lady Indians improved defense in the second half limited the Lady Jackrabbits to 9 and 7 points in the final two quarters. St. Francis also won the junior varsity game in a runaway 26-2.
Greeley County (GC) senior Caela Ibarra scored the first basket of the contest on an offensive rebound. It was the third offensive rebound of the possession for the Lady Jackrabbits. Emileigh Dinkel's assist lead to a Jylian Laten basket on a cut to the hoop moments later. Jylian's steal-two gave St. Francis their first lead of the game 4-2. With the addition of a right-wing trey by Hanna Bracelin, the Lady Indians lead increased to five. GC's strong senior post player, Hannah Brandl, added a post basket for the Lady Rabbits. A driving score and a trey by Taighe Weeter increased the lead to 12-4 before Brandl added another post basket from the right block. A driving basket and a left-wing trey on an out-of-bounds play by sophomore Lauren Crotinger quickly trimmed the margin to one (12-11) at 2:05. In the next 30 seconds, Weeter added two free-throws, and Lauren Johnson drew a charge on a Lady Rabbit while the Lady Indians were pressing. When Brandl scored on a fast-break basket, the Lady Indians called time-out to regroup at 1:34. After returning to the floor, the Lady Indians earned a right-corner trey by Reagan Beims. St. Francis led 17-15 at the break after the addition of a Brandl post basket late in the period.
On the first possession of the second quarter, Hannah Brandl scored from the right block tying the contest. A top-of-the-key trey by Lauren Crotinger gave the Lady Jackrabbits a 17-20 advantage. Two free-throws by Lindsey Johnson narrowed the gap, and Karly Bandel's free-throw pair gave St. Francis the lead (21-20). Greeley County called time-out at 5:33. A steal-two by Crotinger gave the Lady Rabbits the lead. It would be the last lead the Lady Rabbits would hold. Taighe Weeter scored a trey from the right-corner (assist Lauren Johnson), and Johnson added a right-corner shot moments later. After a Brandl free-throw, LIndsey Johnson added a left-wing basket (assist Bandel). Lindsey's assist then led to a score on a cut by Reagan Beims. With the addition of an out-of-bounds play basket by Beims (assist Bandel), the Lady Indians led 32-23. The Lady Indians' run ended with another post basket by Brandl. Weeter added a coast-to-coast drive and GC's Brittany Luebbers a free-throw to complete the first half scoring. St. Francis led 34-26 at halftime.
GC sophomore Mattie Brandl scored the first bucket of the second half from the post. A top-of-the-key trey by Hanna Bracelin was answered by a top-of-the key trey by Crotinger on the next GC possession. Lauren Johnson added a baseline drive and then set up a score by Jylian Laten with an assist on a baseline shot. At 3:40, the Lady Indians lead became double-digits (41-31). After two free-throws by Hannah Brandl, Lauren Johnson's trey (assist Bracelin) increased the lead. Laten's basket moved the margin to 46-33. Greeley County had seen enough and called time-out at 1:44. By 1:25, Greeley County was in the bonus and had zero team fouls. The situation did not become a factor in the contest, as St. Francis only recorded one more foul in the game. A pair of free-throws by Ibarra was followed by right-elbow shot by Biems, and Bracelin's assist set up another Beims score. St. Francis led 50-35 at the third-quarter break.
After a free-throw by GC, Karly Bandel scored on a cut to the goal. GC called time-out at 6:03. After returning to the floor, Brandl added a post-basket. Lauren Johnson tossed in a shot from the right baseline (assist Bracelin) triggering another GC time-out at 4:46. Brandl sandwiched another post-score in between a trey by Bandel and lay-up by Weeter coming after a steal and assist by Lauren Johnson. After a floater in the lane by Crotinger, St. Francis called time-out at 2:36 leading 59-42. Bracelin then added a lane basket and Beims a steal-two. The flurry led to another GC time-out at 1:23. St. Francis closed with a steal-two by Weeter, free-throws by Weeter and Emiliegh Dinkel, and an offensive rebound score by Weeter. St. Francis defeated Greeley County 70-42.
St. Francis was led in scoring by Taighe Weeter with 20 points. Reagan Beims added 13. Others scoring for St. Francis included Lauren Johnson 9, Hanna Bracelin 8, Jylian Laten 8, Karly Bandel 7, Lindsey Johnson 4, and Emiliegh DInkel 1. St. Francis made 9 of 16 from the line, totaled 19 fouls, and 26 turnovers.
Greeley County was led by Hannah Brandl with 19 points (13 in 1st half). Lauren Crotinger added 15. The Lady Jackrabbits made 7 of 13 from the line, had 19 fouls, and had 36 turnovers.
St. Francis won the junior varsity game in a landslide. St. Francis led 16-0 after one period of action. As the Greeley County turnovers mounted, the point-spread grew. Greeley County earned a runner in the lane by Lauren Crotinger with 2;50 left in the first half moving the scoreboard to 24-2. St. Francis won the two-quarter contest 26-2.
St. Francis had 10 turnovers in the game; Greeley County had 23. St. Francis was led in scoring by Emileigh Dinkel with 8 points. Emma Johnson added 7 as did Hannah Zimbal. Karly Bandel and Jylian Laten each added 2.
After the game, Senior Night was observed. Five St. Francis seniors and their parents were recognized for participation in the girls basketball program. Players and managers recognized were Reagan Beims, Hanna Bracelin, Emileigh Dinkel, Jylian Laten, and Matthisen Witzel.
St. Francis will play Wallace County, in Sharon Springs, on Tuesday, February 20.
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