Boys Earn Third Place Finish
St. Francis defeated Logan to win third place in the 2018 Sagebrush Shootout Basketball Tournament in Brewster on Saturday, December 8. The game was a bit slow-paced as both teams used mostly zone defenses and were offensively deliberate. After an early run by the Indians, the teams played almost evenly throughout the contest. Logan tied the game in the final seconds on a trey sending the game to overtime. St. Francis earned a five-point lead in the overtime and held on to defeat the Trojans 44-41.
Draven Houtman won the boys free-throw contest. Brady Dinkel was named to the 5-player boys All-Tournament Team.
Brady Dinkel gave the Indians a quick 5-0 advantage with a top-of-the-key trey and steal-two. Logan's Michael Daniels (6' 0" Sr.) and Nate Cruz (5' 11" Jr.) answered from the post and on an offensive rebound respectively. K.C. Krien's assist led to a third Dinkel score on a strong cut to the goal. Jesse Baxter followed with a stick-back bucket. Late in the quarter, Dinkel added a score from the right corner. St. Francis led 12-4 at the end of the first period. It would be the largest margin of the game. Dinkel scored 10 points in the quarter.
Logan's Ian Sparks (6' 0" So.) opened the second period with a left-wing trey. Daniels added a post score (plus one) to pull the Trojans within two (12-10). At 5:11, Logan used their first time-out to discuss strategy and returned to the floor to add another basket by Daniels to tie the game at 12-all. St. Francis responded with steal-assist by K.C. Krien leading to a lay-up by Brady Dinkel. Jesse Baxter's baseline shot gave the Indians a bit more breathing room. A right-wing trey by Cruz followed; and at 1:21, Bodey LeRoux (6' 1" Sr.) gave the Trojans a 16-17 lead on an assist from Daniels. Unfortunately, the Indians fouled on a Trojan 3-point attempt at the buzzer. Logan's Trey Kats (5' 10" Jr.) sank 2 of 3. St. Francis trailed at halftime 16-19.
Jesse Baxter added a free-throw and a driving basket early in the period (6:40) to tie the contest at 19-19. Daniels added another post basket in return. With only one basket scored by each team in the first five-plus minutes of the half, St. Francis called time-out at 2:27. At 1:55, the Indians tied the game at 21-all on a left-elbow jumper by Baxter. On the ensuing possession, Ty Kats (5' 10" Fr.) made 1 of 2 to reassume the lead. After a turnover on the next SF possession led to a foul, Ty Kats again sank 1 of 2. On the missed free-throw, Cruz rebounded the basketball and scored for the Trojans placing the Indians at a 4-point deficit (21-25). Two more baskets would be scored in the quarter; both by St. Francis. Baxter add a bucket in the lane, and Dinkel drained a left corner trey in the closing moments to reclaim the lead, 26-25.
St. Francis opened the final stanza with a nice high-low post pass from Jesse Baxter leading to a basket by Colton Neitzel. After a driving score by Logan's LeRoux, Logan used another time-out at 5:16. At 4:05, Ty Kats scored on a drive to the goal. Moments later, Micheal Daniels drained a shot from the right wing giving Logan a 28-31 advantage and triggering a St. Francis time-out at 3:04. Returning to the court, Baxter earned a stick-back basket. Brady Dinkel added consecutive free-throws at 1:18 to give St. Francis a slim one-point advantage (32-31) and the Indians took another time-out for strategy. After a missed shot by the Trojans, Dinkel grabbed the rebound and dribbled coast-to-coast and was fouled. Dinkel calmly sank both shots to give the Indians a 34-31 margin with 57.1 seconds to play. With 41.7 seconds left, Logan called time-out. The Trojans next shot attempt was rebounded by Baxter with 31.5 seconds left. Logan fouled Baxter on the rebound. St. Francis took the ball out under the Logan basket and within seconds committed a turnover with 22 seconds left. Trey Kats drained a right-wing trey to tie the game at 34-all. A St. Francis miss and Logan rebound followed, but the Trojans could not get off a shot before the buzzer. The game moved to overtime.
St. Francis scored first in the overtime at 2:25; an assist by K.C. Krien led to a basket by Connor Keller on a cut to the goal. Daniels answered with a deep deuce near the top-of-the-key. Jesse Baxter added an offensive rebound bucket moments later (38-36 at 1:49), but Daniels answered with a shot near the free-throw line tying the game once again. Keller's right-wing trey gave the Indians a 41-38 advantage with just over a minute to go. The Indians' defense then forced Logan into a 10-second violation on the next possession. St. Francis called time-out again with 49.8 seconds left. At 27.1, Baxter was fouled and sank both free-throws (43-38). After another Logan time-out and miss, Dinkel was fouled and made 1 of 2. On the next Trojan possession, Trey Kats swished a trey from the left-corner (44-41). Logan used another time-out at 14.9. After missing a quick shot attempt, Logan fouled Baxter with 13.8 second to go. Jesse missed the charity toss, but Colton Neitzel rebounded the ball. Unfortunately, the Indians turned the ball over with 8.6 seconds remaining. Again, Logan used a time-out to set up an offensive play. Trey Kats final shot was unsuccessful and the Indians escaped with a narrow 44-41 win. Both teams made 12 deuces and 4 treys in the contest. St. Francis earned three more points from the line to earn the win.
Brady Dinkel led the Indians in scoring with 20 points. Jesse Baxter added 17. Only two other Indians scored in the contest; Connor Keller 5 and Colton Neitzel 2. The Indians made 8 of 11 from the stripe, committed 11 fouls, and had 15 turnovers.
Logan was led in scoring by Michael Daniels with 13 points. Nate Cruz added 9 and Trey Kats chipped in 8. The Trojans made 5 of 8 from the line, were whistled for 12 fouls, and had 16 turnovers.
St. Francis will play Dundy County-Stratton on December 14 in St. Francis. The Tigers enter the contest with a 5-0 record. The Tigers have wins over Potter-Dix (93-12), Morrill (52-46), Decatur Community (71-24), Southwest (64-48), and Wauneta-Palisade (51-36).
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