Girls Advance to NWKL Championship Game
Lady Indians Play Well to Defeat Hoxie
The Lady Indians turned in a very good performance in the semi-final contest of the Northwest Kansas League Basketball Tournament. The Lady Indians played solid defense, were aggressive offensively, and shot and rebounded the ball well to defeat #1-seeded Hoxie 52-50 in the championship semi-final contest. The Lady Indians now advance to compete against Rawlins County for the NWKL Tournament championship. The game is scheduled to begin at approximately 4:30 p.m. (CT) in the Varsity Gymnasium at Wallace County High School in Sharon Springs. An arrangement has been made to allow the girls game to begin 15 minutes after the conclusion of the St. Francis boys game (in a different gym) so that fans can view both games in their entirety.
Trinity Balluch (Sr.) placed Hoxie on the scoreboard first making one-of-two from the free-throw line. Emma Johnson drained a right-corner trey on an assist from her sister Lauren moments later. Emma's second trey, from the left-wing, gave the Lady Indians a 6-1 advantage, but Balluch followed with a post basket. Lindsey Johnson then swished a trey from the opposite wing on an assist from Lauren Johnson. It didn't take long for Hoxie to respond as Macy Shamberger (Jr.) made a deep deuce from the right-corner. Lindsey Johnson added an out-of-bounds play score on an assist from Karly Bandel, but Shamberger struck again; this time, a trey from the top-of-the-key (11-8). Lauren Johnson's next assist led to a high-post basket by Jordyn Faulkender. Hoxie's Addi Campbell (Jr.) answered with a top-of-the-key trey moving Hoxie within two (13-11). After a free-throw by Hannah Zimbal, Campbell drained a trey from the left-wing tying the contest at 14-all. St. Francis took a time-out at 3:38 to discuss strategy. The frenetic scoring pace was about to slow. Only two more scores were added in the closing minutes of the period. The Lady Indians received a right-corner trey by Bandel and two free-throws from Hannah Zimbal to close the first quarter. St. Francis led 19-14 at the break.
Jordyn Faulkender opened the second period with an offensive rebound basket. Lauren Johnson followed with two free-throws. They were the only points scored in the first few minutes of the second quarter. At 4:33, the Lady Indians used their 2nd time-out. After returning to action, Alondra Gomez scored from the left corner to give the Lady Indians an 11-point advantage (25-14). Macy Schamberger's two free-throws near the four-minute mark of the period was the first Hoxie score in nearly 8 minutes. Highly competitive as always, the Hoxie team would tally three more scores in quick succession. Macalee White (Sr.) added a shot from the left corner, Campbell chipped in two free-throws, and White added a basket after a Lady Indian turnover. The action reduced the 11-point lead to two (25-23). The final score of the first half was a top-of-the-key trey by Gomez on an out-of-bounds play. St. Francis led at halftime, 28-23.
St. Francis opened the second half with an out-of-bounds play score by Hannah Zimbal and a driving basket by Emma Johnson (32-23). Schamberger followed with a deep trey. After a Zimbal free-throw, Schamberger added another trey; this one from the right-wing in transition. It was Zimbal's turn, and Hanna soon added a driving score for the Lady Indians. After two Schamberger free-throws, Maiah Castle (Sr.) scored on a cut through the lane. Castle's score reduced the advantage to two again (35-33). St. Francis used another time-out at 2:49. The action was brisk in the final minutes of the period. After a free-throw by Karly Bandel, Addi Campbell scored in the lane (36-35). Lindsey Johnson followed with two free-throws, but Schamberger answered with two charity tosses of her own at the opposite end. An assist from Lindsey Johnson set up a right-wing trey by Emma Johnson. Campbell dropped in a buzzer-beater trey from near half-court to close the period. The Lady Indians led 41-40.
With 7:27 remaining, Hoxie tied the contest (41-41) on a free-throw by Campbell. At 6:15, Lexi Torluemke sank one-of-two from the line to give Hoxie their first lead since the opening seconds of the contest. At 5:22, an assist from Karly Bandel found Lindsey Johnson open on a back-door cut to the goal. Lindsey's "and one" free-throw gave the Lady Indians a 44-42 lead. The advantage didn't last long as six seconds later, Castle drained at deep deuce from the top-of-the-key in transition. A left-corner trey from Lindsey Johnson re-established the Lady Indian lead (47-44). With 5:08 left in the contest, Torluemke fouled out. After a Hoxie time-out at 4:12, Bandel sank a floater moving the advantage to five. Two Campbell free-throws were soon followed by a Lady Indian turnover that led to a score by Hoxie's Baylee McKenna (So.). St. Francis used time-out number four at 2:02. Being somewhat cautious on offense, the Lady Indians earned two free-throws by Hannah Zimbal at the 1:28 mark. Hannah calmly swished both shots. Campbell answered with a jumper in the lane (51-50) and Hoxie called time-out at 48.6. Lindsey Johnson added one-of-two from the stripe a short time later. With 8.6 seconds remaining, the ball went out-of-bounds under the Hoxie basket. Possession belonged to Hoxie, and Hoxie took a time-out to discuss strategy. Lindsey Johnson blocked the final Hoxie shot attempt from the left wing by Baylee McKenna. The ball went out-of-bounds under the basket after being touched by a Hoxie player. The Lady Indians inbounded the ball to seal the win. The Lady Indians had earned a well-played victory (52-50) over the Hoxie Lady Indians.The win was the first victory for the Lady Indians over Hoxie since January 8, 2010. The Lady Indians will compete for the NWKL Tournament championship on Saturday, January 19 at approximately 4:30 p.m. in Sharon Springs.
St. Francis had three players in double figures: Lindsey Johnson 14, Emma Johnson 11, and Hannah Zimbal 10. Others scoring for the Lady Indians were Karly Bandel 6, Alondra Gomez 5, Jordyn Faulkender 4, and Lauren Johnson 2. The Lady Indians made 13 of 23 (9 missed in 2nd half) from the line, committed 14 turnovers, and had 14 fouls.
Hoxie received 18 points from Addi Campbell and 17 from Macy Schamberger. Hoxie committed 13 turnovers, had 21 fouls, made 13 of 20 from the stripe.
In the other semi-final contests, Rawlins County defeated Decatur community 40-27; Dighton beat Greeley County 48-22; and Wallace County defeated Quinter 58-50.
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