Lady Indians Advance
The Lady Indians advanced to the championship semi-finals of the Northwest Kansas League Basketball Tournament by defeating the Dighton Lady Hornets on Tuesday, January 15. St. Francis took the lead midway through the third period and never relinquished the advantage. Though in foul trouble throughout much of the contest, the Lady Indians defeated Dighton 45-33. The Lady Indians will now play on Thursday, January 17, against Hoxie at 6:00 p.m. in the Varsity Gym at Wallace County High School.
Hoxie defeated Greeley County 42-23 in first round action. On the opposite side of the bracket, Rawlins County thumped Wallace County 47-12, and Decatur Community beat Quinter 54-40.
St. Francis scored the first basket of the contest on an assist from Emma Johnson to Lauren Johnson. Dighton's Emily Sheppard (5' 6" Sr.) soon answered from the right-wing. Hannah Zimbal's score in the lane was answered by a free-throw area jumper by Gentry Shapland (5' 6" Sr.). Lauren Johnson's left-wing trey (assist Lindsey Johnson) was followed by post basket (plus one) by Melanie Whipple (5' 9" Jr.) tying the game at 7-all. The teams would battle closely throughout the contest. Dighton took their first lead of the contest on a left-block post-move by Ella Roberts (5' 11" Jr.). It didn't take long for the Lady Indians to respond with an out-of-bounds play right-corner trey by Karly Bandel (assist Lauren Johnson). Traci Cramer's (5' 7" Fr.) baseline bucket was followed by two Roberts free-throws (10-13). Alondra Gomez's top-of-the-key trey tied the contest (13-13) in the closing seconds of the first period.
Neither team scored in the opening minutes of the second period. At 6:39, Ella Roberts, Dighton's premier scoring threat, picked up her second foul and headed to the bench. St. Francis was also accumulating fouls at a rapid rate, and the Lady Indians were using their substitutes. An assist from Lindsey Johnson led to a score in the lane by Hannah Zimbal. Emily Sheppard tied the contest at 15-all with a left-wing jumper. At 3:59, St. Francis called time-out as the Lady Indian fouls kept mounting. Dighton took a 15-18 advantage on free-throws by Shapland and Kennadee O'Brien (5' 6" Sr.). A steal-assist by McKenna Poling led to a lay-up by Mia Morrow closing the gap to one (17-18), but Dighton added two more free-throws late in the first half to lead 17-20 at halftime. St. Francis had six players with two fouls at halftime.
Dighton's Kenadee O'Brien opened the third period with a left-wing trey. Justice Barton (6' 3" Sr.) followed with an offensive rebound basket increasing the Lady Hornets' advantage to 17-24. The Lady Indians were needing to make something happen. At 6:59, Roberts earned her third foul attempting to rebound a missed shot. St. Francis followed with two free-throws by Hannah Zimbal and a post basket by Lauren Johnson (plus one; assist Lindsey Johnson). Dighton called time-out at 5:45 holding a slim two-point lead. At 5:22, Lindsey Johnson scored on a drive tying the contest at 24-all. Roberts picked up her 4th foul at the 3:25 mark and again headed to the bench. Zimbal calmly sank both charity tosses. Jordyn Faulkender then added a stick-back basket. At 1:52, Dighton used their second time-out of the period. After returning to play, St. Francis earned a six-point advantage (30-24) on an out-of-bounds play assist from Lauren Johnson to Faulkender. O'Brien added an additional free-throw to the Lady Hornets' total in the closing moments. St. Francis led 30-25 after three periods of action.
Eighteen free-throws would be shot in the final period (SF-10; D-8). Justice Barton used her superior height to earn an out-of-bounds-play post basket for the Hornets early in the quarter. At 6:46, Dighton used their 4th time-out to change to a pressing defense. A left-wing trey by Alondra Gomez was followed by two free-throws by Emily Sheppard. St. Francis called time-out at 5:08. Moments later, Shapland converted two more free-throws for Dighton narrowing the advantage to 33-31. An assist from Lindsey Johnson on Lauren Johnson's left-wing trey was followed by an assist by Lindsey Johnson on a post score by Jordyn Faulkender. The flurry resulted in the largest margin in the contest thus far (38-31). Lauren Johnson's mid-post basket increased the advantage to nine before Cramer added a free-throw for Dighton. At 2:46, Lindsey Johnson earned her fifth foul and left the contest, and St. Francis used a time-out. After an O'Brien free-throw, St. Francis used their 3rd time-out of the period to prevent a turnover. No more baskets would be scored. As Dighton resorted to fouling to control the clock, Karly Bandel made 4 of 6 free-throws and Emma Johnson 1 of 2 to ice the game. Dighton's Gentry Shapland fouled out of the contest in the closing moments. St. Francis defeated Dighton 45-33 to advance to the championship semi-final contest of the NWKL Tournament.
Eight players scored for the Lady Indians. Lauren Johnson led St. Francis with 13 points. Hannah Zimbal added 8. Others scoring for the Lady Indians were Karly Bandel 7, Alondra Gomez 6, Jordyn Faulkender 6, Lindsey Johnson 2, Mia Morrow 2, and Emma Johnson 1. The Lady Indians made 10 of 16 from the line, had 18 turnovers (12 in the 1st half) and were whistled for 23 fouls.
Gentry Shapland led the Lady Hornets in scoring with 8 points. Emily Sheppard added 6 and Kenadee O'Brien 5. The Lady Hornets made 15 of 25 free-throws, committed 20 turnovers (14 in the 2nd half), and had 15 fouls.
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