Indians Win At Cheylin
The St. Francis Indians moved their season record to 14-4 with another win on Tuesday, February 12, in McDonald. The Indians defeated the Cheylin Cougars 61-47 in a game that was well-contested throughout. Though the Cougars have a younger team with only nine players (one senior, one junior), they played good defense and made it difficult for the Indians to gain an offensive rhythm. With both teams playing predominately zone defense, with some full court pressure thrown in, the teams both played decent floor games with the Cougars having 17 turnovers and the Indians 13. There was no junior varsity contest due to Cheylin only having nine players.
An assist from Jesse Baxter set up the first score of the game by Connor Keller. Cheylin answered with a nice assist from Jacob Serrano (6' 3" Sr.) to Miguel Gonzalez (5' 10" Jr.) on a break moments later. Andrew Schields' top-of-the-key trey gave the Cougars a three-point lead, but Baxter swished back-to-back free-throws a short time later. Another Schields' trey moved the score to 4-8. Baxter answered again; this time, a right-wing deuce. When Schields drained his third three-ball of the young game, the Cougars were in front 6-11. It was Baxter's turn, and a deuce from the top trimmed the margin again. Cheylin called time-out at 4:10 leading 8-11. After returning to action, Brady Dinkel earned a steal-two, but Tyler Sabatka (5' 10" So.) followed with a score on press offense. Dinkel's next assist, to Richard Johnson in the post on transition, was answered by two Serrano free-throws. It appeared that the teams were going to exchange scores all night. But....the Indians soon earned a run to take the advantage. An offensive rebound basket by Adam Krien was followed by a coast-to-coast drive by Dinkel to close the first period. St. Francis had finally earned the lead 16-15.
Cody Baxter opened the second period with a baseline jumper. A quick steal on the inbounds pass led to a trey by Brady Dinkel. Cheylin called time-out at 7:34 trailing 21-15. After the break, a high-low post pass from Colton Neitzel led to a short-range score for Jesse Baxter. Connor Keller then added a deep deuce from the right corner. The action moved the Indians' advantage to double-digits (25-15). With 3:30 left in the second period, Jesse Baxter was whistled for his 3rd foul and left the game. Cheylin would score the next basket to end a 15-0 run for the Indians on an nice assist from Colton McCarty (5' 11" So.) to Serrano in the post. Schields followed with an offensive rebound score. After a free-throw by Adam Krien, McCarty added jumper from the free-throw circle. The score narrowed the advantage to 26-21. Krien added an old-fashioned three-point play to close the first half. St. Francis led 29-21.
Connor Keller began the third period scoring with a left-wing trey. Colton McCarty soon drained a trey from the left-side for Cheylin. An assist by Richard Johnson set up a transition left-wing trey by Brady Dinkel. After an offensive rebound by Jesse Baxter, Dinkel drained another three-ball; this one from the opposite side. Adam Krien's right-wing deuce was followed by a basket in the lane by Cody Baxter. The action coupled with some excellent defense by the Indians, helped move the scoreboard to 41-26. Andrew Schields' driving score ended a 10-0 run for the Indians. The Indians now had a bit of breathing room. Draven Houtman scored the final basket of the third period for the Indians; a jumper from the right elbow. St. Francis led 43-26 after three quarters of play.
Cheylin still has some fight left and would out-score the Indians in the final period 21-18. Schields' driving score was followed by a post basket by Gonzalez. With 6:01 remaining, Cheylin used their 3rd time-out. After another post basket by Gonzalez, Jesse Baxter scored a lay-up. Two Schields free-throws and a steal-two by McCarty narrowed the Indian's advantage to 47-36. The Indians would respond with a 12-3 run. Josiah Sims' assist led to a Baxter score in the lane. Dinkel added two free-throws. Gonzalez then sank a trey from the top-of-the-key. Cody Baxter's left baseline jumper preceded a steal-two by Jesse Baxter. Sims then added a floater in the lane and set up Dinkel for a short-range score with another assist. The scoreboard showed the Indians up by twenty (59-39). After an offensive rebound score by Schields, Cheylin called their 4th time-out with 1:59 remaining. During the time-out, St. Francis substituted in several reserves. Another Schields score (drive) was answered by an offensive rebound score by Wyatt Hilt for the Indians. Sabatka added two free-throws and Schields a turnover-two to close the game. Both teams had competed hard, but St. Francis defeated the Cougars 61-47.
Andrew Schields led all scorers with 23 points. Miguel Gonzalez added 9 and Colton McCarty 7 for the Cougars. Cheylin made 6 of 10 from the line and had 9 fouls.
St. Francis received 17 points from Brady Dinkel and 16 from Jesse Baxter. Others scoring for the Indians included Adam Krien 8, Connor Keller 6, and Cody Baxter 6. Josiah Sims, Wyatt Hilt, Richard Johnson, and Draven Houtman each added 2. The Indians committed 16 fouls and made 6 of 8 from the stripe.
The Indians will play Hoxie, in Hoxie, on Thursday, February 14, and will travel to Tribune on Friday, February 15, to compete with the Greeley County Jackrabbits.
The Indians earned a first-round bye in the Regional Tournament and will not play until Friday, February 22 in Rexford against the winner of Triplains-Brewster and Golden Plains.
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