Girls Advance To Championship Game
On Friday, December 7, the Lady Indians faced the Wallace County Lady Wildcats in the championship semi-final contest of the Sagebrush Shootout Basketball Tournament in Brewster. Though the game was marred by numerous turnovers by both teams early; the teams competed hard, and as play improved, the game became very competitive. St. Francis earned a 49-41 victory and advanced to the championship game of the Sagebrush Shootout against Golden Plains. Golden Plains defeated Cheylin 48-40 in semi-final action to advance.
Before the game, Emma Johnson and Lakin Perry had a shoot-off to see who would advance to the finals of the free-throw contest. Both Lakin and Emma each made 20 of 25 in the preliminaries. Jessie Frisbie of Cheylin made 21 to qualify. On Friday, Emma and Lakin again tied; each making 18 of 25. In the second round of the tie-breaker, Emma made 6 while Lakin made 9 to advance.
Wallace County scored the first two baskets of the game to lead 0-5. The Lady Wildcats opened with a right-wing trey by Leah Ayres (5' 7" Jr.) and then earned a steal-two by Jessie Carmen (5' 6" So.). St. Francis answered with a right-wing trey by Karly Bandel on an assist by Lindsey Johnson. The game action was ragged due to many turnovers by both teams, but the effort was excellent. St. Francis would total 11 turnovers in the first period while Wallace County (WC) would record 10. After a free-throw jumper by Lakin Perry (5' 6" Jr.), the Lady Indians used their first time-out at 3:43. After returning to action, the Lady Indians received a right-wing trey by Lindsey Johnson (assist Lauren Johnson) and then took the lead at 2:26 on two free-throws by Lindsey (8-7). After the addition of consecutive free-throws by Bandel, Wallace County called time-out at 1:43 to slow the momentum. WC's Haylee Hennick (5' 11" Jr.) followed with a free-throw, and then the Lady Indians used their second time-out of the period at 1:21. After the time-out, the Lady Indians added 7 more points before the quarter ended. Alondra Gomez drained consecutive free-throws and then scored on a drive. The final basket came on a left-wing trey by Emma Johnson (assist Bandel). St. Francis led 17-8 after one quarter of play.
Emma Johnson added a stick-back basket to open the second period. Lakin Perry answered with a top-of-the-key trey. The Lady Indians earned a double-digit advantage (21-11) on a drive by Karly Bandel. The teams continued to exchange scores as Perry added two free-throws and then Emma Johnson scored on a cut to the hoop on an assist from Bandel. WC's Tori Springsteel (5' 7" So.) then added an out-of-bounds play bucket preceding an Emma Johnson free-throw. Hennick's offensive rebound basket was answered by a trey by Emma Johnson. Bandel increased the margin to 11 sinking one-of-two from the stripe. The final bucket of the first half came on a runner by Perry in the closing moments. St. Francis led by the same 9-point margin as they did at the first quarter break, 28-19.
The teams battled evenly throughout the second half. This half was also marred by too many turnovers (St. Francis having 14 and WC having 10). Aubrey Kuhlman (5' 9" Jr.) earned an offensive rebound basket to trim the margin to seven. The Lady Indians then earned an 11-point run. Lindsey Johnson answered with a well-executed pick-&-roll play with her sister Lauren. A steal and assist by Alondra Gomez led to a lay-up by Karly Bandel. Bandel then added a left-wing trey after an assist from Lindsey Johnson. Wallace County had seen enough and called time-out trailing 37-24. On the ensuing WC possession, Hannah Zimbal drew a charge on a driving WC player adding to the Lady Indians' momentum. A Bandel assist led to a baseline driving score by Lauren Johnson. The Lady Indians now led 39-21. After a WC free-throw, the Lady Indians spent another time-out. WC would score the final two baskets of the quarter. St. Francis led 39-27 entering the final period.
The Lady Wildcats trimmed the deficit to 5 twice in the final period with excellent hustle but could not regain the lead. Lakin Perry drained back-to-back treys to open the final period. Moments later, Perry fouled out of the contest. She was soon followed to the bench by Lady Indian Hannah Zimbal with five fouls at 5:33. A WC free-throw narrowed the advantage to five (39-34), but the Lady Indians soon earned a right-baseline jumper from Karly Bandel on an assist from Lauren Johnson. Emma Johnson's break basket and Lauren Johnson's free throw increased the margin back to ten (44-34). Springsteel's left-wing jumper was followed by a St. Francis time-out at 3:27. After a free-throw by Jordyn Faulkender, WC added two buckets; one by Aubrey Kuhlman from the left baseline and one by Hennick on an offensive rebound. The stick-back basket again reduced the lead to five (45-40). No additional baskets were scored in the contest. Hennick added one free-throw for the Lady Cats. St. Francis added free-throws by Emma Johnson, Alondra Gomez, and Bandel to seal a 49-41 win.
St. Francis was led in scoring by Karly Bandel with 16 and Emma Johnson with 15. Others scoring for St. Francis were Lindsey Johnson 7, Lauren Johnson 5, Alondra Gomez 5, and Jordyn Faulkender 1. The Lady Indians made 14 of 24 from the line. St. Francis committed 26 turnovers and 20 fouls.
Wallace County was led in scoring by Lakin Perry with 12. Aubrey Kuhlman added 9, and Haylee Hennick 6. The Lady Wildcats committed 23 fouls, 27 turnovers, and made 5 of 15 from the stripe.
St. Francis will now play Golden Plains for the championship of the Sagebrush Shootout on Saturday, December 8, at 5:30 p.m.
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