Indians - Wildcats Battle Goes To Overtime
As they have done several times over the years, the Indians and Wildcats battled to overtime on February 7 in St. Francis. The Wallace County Wildcats (14-2; lost twice to Hoxie) and the St. Francis Indians (12-4) game was excellent. Both teams executed well and expended outstanding effort. The Wallace County Wildcats defeated the St. Francis Indians 74-77 in overtime. The outcome of the contest was likely decided in the first three minutes of the third period when Wallace County drained 5 consecutive treys and the Indians had 5 turnovers.
The game opened with a technical foul on St. Francis due to a scorebook error. Wallace County's Trever Medina (6' 1" Sr.) drained both free-throws and then swished a right-corner trey on the first WC possession. St. Francis responded well though, getting a left-wing trey from Brady Dinkel. Luke Johnson (6' 0" Sr.) followed with a score in the lane and top-of-the-key trey increasing the deficit to 3-10. Connor Keller's trey from the top narrowed the gap considerably, and at 5:45 an assist from Jesse Baxter to Keller led to a second Keller trey. The Indians were within one (9-10). One minute later, an assist from Dinkel led to an out-of-bounds play score by Baxter giving the Indians their first lead. The Indians would not trail again......in the first half. Baxter's offensive rebound score was answered by a fast-break basket by Medina. The Indians then earned three consecutive buckets; a stick-back by K.C. Krien, a baseline jumper by Baxter (assist Dinkel), and a step-back left-wing jumper by Baxter. After WC's Landon Johnson drained a trey, Dinkel swished consecutive free-throws. A second Johnson trey was followed by 1-of-2 from the line by Dinkel. St. Francis led 22-18 at the first quarter break.
The scoring would slow dramatically in the second period. Only two players would earn baskets in the period--Trever Medina and Brady Dinkel. They would continue to battle back-and-forth throughout the contest with both nearly scoring thirty points in the game. Dinkel opened the quarter with a nice baseline drive. Moments later, an assist by Cody Baxter led to a post score by Dinkel. At 4:50, a Dinkel steal-two placed the Indians at a double-digit advantage (28-18). At 3:47, the Indians used their first time-out. Medina soon scored on a drive. After a free-throw by Colton Neitzel, Medina scored again on a beautiful reverse-layup on a baseline drive. Medina then added a top-of-the-key trey moving the Wildcats within four (29-25). Wallace County used their first time-out with 1:47 remaining in the first half. Only free-throws remained to be scored. Cody Baxter and Dinkel added free-throws to the Indians' side of the scoreboard. Trevor Fischer (6' 1" Sr.) and Medina added free-throws to the Wildcats' cause. St. Francis led 31-28 at intermission.
Twenty seconds into the third period Wallace County's Cody Seader (6' 1" Jr.) drained a trey. Moments later, Trever Medina swished another from the top-of-the-key. Though K.C. Krien squeezed in a post basket on an assist from Jesse Baxter, Andrew Noone (6' 1" Sr.) struck with the third trey in a row for WC. Unfortunately, the St. Francis turnovers were coming as fast as the WC treys. Brady Dinkel's drive help reduce the deficit. Two additional treys, these by Medina, moved the deficit to 35-43. St. Francis called time-out at 4:47 reeling from the onslaught. After the time-out, Connor Keller swished a three-ball from the left wing. Noone's next score was another trey, the 6th of the quarter for the Wildcats. A Dinkel coast-to-coast drive and a baseline score by Cody Baxter (assist Dinkel) narrowed the margin to four (42-46). Luke Johnson responded with a score in the lane and a turnover-two. The Wildcats called time-out at 1:52 leading 42-50. Adam Krien, playing in only his second contest of the season, added a driving score and then drew a charge on a driving Wildcat. The Wildcats took another time-out with 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Neither team would score again in the period. St. Francis trailed 45-50 after three periods.
Trevor Fischer added a stick-back basket for the Wildcats early in the fourth period. On the next possession, Brady Drinkel drove coast-to-coast for the Indians. Dinkel then added a corner shot after an assist by Jesse Baxter. The play reduced the deficit to three (49-52), but Noone drained a trey at the opposite end moments later. Baxter's next assist found Connor Keller open for a bucket from the right elbow. A 6:34, Colton Neitzel positioned his body well to draw a charge on Medina's drive into the lane. It was the Wildcats' scoring leader's 4th foul. Momentum was changing. Assists by Dinkel soon found Baxter and Krien for scores. At 5:22, the game became tied at 55-all. Unfortunately, another Indian turnover lead to a basket by Luke Johnson. At 4:19, St. Francis used their 3rd time-out, and after returning to the floor, Krien scored on a strong cut to the goal retying the game. With 3:20 remaining, a steal-assist by Richard Johnson led to another Krien score, and the Indians were back in front (59-57). It was time for another WC trey and Luke Johnson delivered on the next Wildcat possession. At 2:59, Richard Johnson was fouled on a spin-move in the lane and made consecutive free-throws. Noone answered in transition. Wildcat free-throws at 2:06 and 1:33 moved the scoreboard to 61-64. Johnson scored for the Indians on an offensive rebound with 1:15 remaining. With 35 seconds left, Landon Johnson added a free-throw improving the Wildcats' number to 65. Another Indian turnover ensued; resulting in a free-throw by Luke Johnson with 22 seconds left. Dinkel drained a well-contested trey with 5 seconds remaining to tie the game at 66-all. Wallace County called time-out with 3 ticks left to set up an attempt. The shot was errant, and the game moved to overtime.
With Wallace County in the bonus and the Indians needing to get there, the odds were in WC's favor. The Indians badly needed to earn a 5th foul on Trever Medina to help curb the Wildcats offense. St. Francis would score more baskets than WC in the overtime, but the 12 free-throws the Wildcats earned sealed the win. Landon Johnson drained a deep deuce from the left wing early in overtime. On the next Indian possession, K.C. Krien answered with a driving score. Free-throws by Cody Seader and Medina moved the score to 69-71. At 2:10, Brady Dinkel scored on a drive for the Indians. Seader answered from the free-throw circle on the next possession. Adam Krien's baseline drive pulled the Indians within one (72-73) when the Indians had possession. At 1:18, two Dinkel free-throws gave the Indians a narrow 74-73 advantage. Thirteen seconds later, K.C. Krien fouled out of the contest, and Luke Johnson sank 1-of-2 tying the game. On the missed free-throw, WC grabbed the rebound and set up offense again. Medina earned a foul a short time later and converted 1-of-2 (74-75). Colton Neitzel grabbed the rebound for the Indians, but the Indians shot did not go in. WC rebounded and called time-out with 18 seconds remaining. With 14 seconds left, Medina was fouled on a drive. Trever converted both charity tosses (74-77), and WC used their final time-out. With 7 seconds remaining, the Indians committed another turnover preventing a second overtime. St. Francis lost to Wallace County 74-77 in overtime.
Brady Dinkel led the Indians with 28 points. Trever Medina scored 29 for the Wildcats. The Indians had 25 turnovers; the Wildcats had 19. St. Francis made 11 of 23 from the line; WC made 16 of 25. The Indians were whistled for 22 fouls; the Wildcats 23.
Luke Johnson (16) and Andrew Noone (11) both scored in double figures for the Wildcats. Landon Johnson added 9 and Cody Seader 8 to the Wildcats cause.
St. Francis had good balanced scoring with four players in double-figures: Dinkel 29, K.C. Krien 12, Jesse Baxter 12, and Connor Keller 11. Others scoring for the Indians were Richard Johson 4, Adam Krien 5, Cody Baxter 1, and Colton Neitzel 1.
In junior varsity action, the Indians were tied 10-10 at the 2:15 mark of the first period, but fell behind by six at the first quarter break (10-16). The second period took a toll on the Indians. As the turnovers mounted (20 in first half), the Indians fell further behind and trailed 17-38 at halftime. The margin increased to 25 in the third period, and the Indians lost by a score of 34-58.
The Indians will play Decatur Community in Oberlin on Friday, February 8. The Indians will travel to Hoxie on Monday, February 11th.
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