Indians Earn Come-From-Behind Win Over The Hornets
The varsity boys basketball game between the Indians and the Dighton Hornets was very low-scoring. Both teams utilized good zone defenses and were patient offensively throughout most of their contest on Friday, January 11. Other than one possession during the game, St. Francis trailed until their was less than two minutes left in the game, but earned a 34-29 come-from-behind win over the Hornets.
Dighton received a left-corner trey from Kaden Bradstreet (6' 3" Jr.) and left-baseline jumper from Marcus Rowe (6' 3" Jr.) to earn a 0-5 lead early in the contest. Colton Neitzel placed the Indians on the scoreboard with back-to-back free-throws. David Cramer (6' 0" Sr.) added a right-wing jumper for the Hornets. With both teams being very patient against good zone defenses, points came slowly. Jesse Baxter earned a reverse baseline drive, but Rowe answered from the lane moments later. Baxter's jumper from the right baseline completed the first quarter scoring. St. Francis trailed 6-9 after one period of play.
A nice high-low post pass from Colton Neitzel led to a post basket by Jesse Baxter opening the second period. After the addition of a free-throw by David Cramer, Baxter's jumper in the lane tied the game at 10-all at the 5:40 mark. On the next Dighton possession, an assist from Cramer to Blaine Whipple (5' 10" So.) led to a top-of-the-key deuce. Cramer's driving score was followed by a Whipple score from the block. The addition of an offensive rebound basket by Cramer moved the deficit to 12-20. The Indians were struggling to keep pace with the Hornets and badly needed a basket. An assist from Baxter to Richard Johnson in the post resulted in a much-needed basket. Johnson soon added a driving score to move the scoreboard to 16-20 at halftime.
Only one basket was scored in the first four minutes of the third period; a left-corner shot by Cramer. At 4:36, Dighton called time-out. When the teams returned to the floor, both teams employed man-to-man defenses. Though the scoring rate did not change much, the player movement picked up. Cody Baxter earned a steal-two for the Indians, but Whipple soon followed with an offensive rebound basket. Several times during the remaining minutes of the contest, the Indians gave up multiple offensive rebounds to the Hornets, but the Hornets did not convert on many of the occasions. A free-throw by Colton Neitzel was followed by a buzzer-beater trey by Connor Keller. St. Francis trailed 22-24 at the third quarter break.
A 7:44, the Indians received a post basket (plus one) from Jesse Baxter to take a short-lived 25-24 lead. At 5:25, Marcus Rowe earned an out-of-bounds play score from the post to retake the lead. Jesse Baxter was called for a charge earning his 4th foul at 5:20. Baxter went to the bench for several minutes. The next score of the contest came from Rowe after a series of four offensive rebounds by the Hornets. The deficit was now 25-28. After re-entering the contest, Baxter earned a top-of-the-key trey. Cramer added a free-throw, but Baxter's high-post jumper tied the contest at 29-all with 1:55 to go. Josiah Sims earned two steals late in the contest; the second was converted into a right-corner trey by Brady Dinkel on an out-of-bounds play. At 1:18, Dighton committed a turnover, and St. Francis called time-out. With approximately 20 seconds left an assist from Connor Keller to Baxter in the post resulted in an important Indian score. The Indians held on to defeat the Hornets 34-29.
Jesse Baxter led all scorers with 17 points. Richard Johnson added 6. Connor Keller, Brady Dinkel, and Draven Houtman each scored 3. Cody Baxter added 2 points. The Indians made 4 of 6 from the line, committed 11 fouls, and had 22 turnovers.
The junior varsity boys won their first contest of the season defeating Dighton 38-36.
Dighton was led by David Cramer with 9 points. Marcus Rowe scored 8. The Hornets committed 16 turnovers, had 11 fouls, and made 2 of 4 from the stripe.
St. Francis will play Dighton in the opening round of the NWKL Tournament in Sharon Springs on Tuesday, January 15.
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