Indians Lose Two In Tribune
The Indians lost both of their contests in Tribune on Friday, February 15. The junior varsity Indians suffered a 60-34 drubbing by the Jackrabbits. The varsity Indians struggled through a cold shooting evening and also lost to Greeley County by a score of 39-42.
The varsity contest was cleanly played by both teams. St. Francis had 13 turnovers in the contest; Greeley County had 12. Neither team shot especially well in the contest. The Indians did not make a three-point shot in the game; Greeley County (GC) recorded 5. The Indians were 5 of 9 from the line; GC made 9 of 13. Though the Indians made more two-point goals (17-9), the difference was not enough.
Jesse Baxter scored the first basket of the varsity contest; a jumper from the left baseline. GC's Jaly Yanez (Sr.) answered on the ensuing GC possession with a right-wing trey. Colton Neitzel earned an offensive rebound basket on the following Indian possession. In the first moments of the contest, it appeared the game would be high-scoring. That would not be the case. K.C. Krien's left-elbow shot gave the Indians a 6-3 lead (equal to their largest of the game). With 2:25 left in the first period, a left-corner trey by Manual Chavez (So.) tied the contest at 6-all. On the next Indian possession, an assist from Adam Krien set up a score by Brady Dinkel. A Krien free-throw closed the first quarter scoring. St. Francis led 9-6.
The Jackrabbits opened the second period with three unanswered field goals. Manuel Chavez scored a stick-back basket and followed it with a top-of-the-key trey. The next GC score; a right-corner trey by Fabel Yanez (Jr.), moved the scoreboard to 9-14. The Indians badly needed to score and they did; an out-of-bounds play basket by Jesse Baxter (assist Brady Dinkel). Richard Johnson's driving score was followed by a free-throw by K.C. Krien. The action tied the game at 14-all. A post-move basket by Sebastian Torres (Sr.) gave the Jackrabbits a 16-14 advantage at halftime.
An Indian turnover opened the second half scoring resulting in a basket by GC's Jose Chavez (12). it was the first score of the contest for Chavez, but he would still total double-figures. A steal-two by Cody Baxter soon answered. A lob play to Sebastian Torres was answered by a post basket by Richard Johnson for the Indians. A bucket by Brady Dinkel tied the contest at 20-20. With 3:30 remaining in the third period, Johnson scored on an offensive rebound giving the Indians a 22-20 advantage. The Jackrabbits used their first time-out at 3:27. On the ensuing GC possession, Sebastian Torres scored on low-high-post pass retying the game. After an offensive rebound by Colton Neitzel, Adam Krien scored on a strong cut to the goal. Unfortunately, a late turnover by the Indians resulted in a buzzer-beater lay-up (plus one) by GC's Jose Chavez. At the third quarter break, the Indians trailed 24-25.
Manuel Chavez scored on a beautiful post move to open the final period. Moments later, a left-wing trey by Seth Williams (So.) increased the Jackrabbits lead to six (24-30). After a coast-to-coast scoring drive by Brady Dinkel, another Indian turnover resulted in a score by GC's Manuel Chavez. The next Indian turnover led to a score by Jose Chavez. The deficit was now 8 (26-34). After a series of three offensive rebounds by the Indians on one trip, Richard Johnson scored for the Indians. K.C. Krien soon added a baseline drive narrowing the gap to 30-34. After a GC turnover, the Indians called time-out at 2:20. The Indians failed to score on the possession, and at 1:40, Fabel Yanez added a pair of free-throws. A pick-and-roll play between Dinkel and Colton Neitzel led to a Neitzel score (plus one) at 1:26. Greeley County used a 30-second time-out at 1:12 leading 33-36. A GC foul on the inbounds pass resulted in a missed free-throw by the Indians. At 52.2, Torres added two free-throws to the Jackrabbits' total. After a SF miss, the Indians fouled again. This time, the Rabbits missed. With 46.1 seconds left, K.C. Krien swished consecutive free-throws for the Indians. Moments later, Johnson scored on another offensive rebound making the score 37-39. With 16.5 seconds remaining, the Indians used another time-out. Three seconds later, Krien fouled out of the game. Jose Chavez converted both charity tosses increasing the GC advantage to 37-41. After a St. Francis score on an offensive rebound by Jesse Baxter, St. Francis called time-out. After returning to the floor, G.C. used a subsequent time-out. The Indians fouled on the inbounds pass. With 1.3 seconds left, Torres converted 1-of-2 giving the Jackrabbits a 39-42 lead. St. Francis rebounded the errant free-throw and immediately called time-out. The clock was reset from .3 seconds to 1 full second. The Indians did not score. The Jackrabbits won the game 39-42.
Manuel Chavez led the Jackrabbits is scoring with 12 points. Jose Chavez added 10. Sebastian Torres chipped in 8.
St. Francis was led by Richard Johnson with 10 points. K.C. Krien added 7. Others scoring for the Indians were Jesse Baxter 6, Brady Dinkel 6, Colton Neitzel 5, Adam Krien 3, and Cody Baxter 2.
In junior varsity action, the Jackrabbits earned a quick advantage. A right-wing trey by Darien Ibarra (Sr.) gave the Rabbits a 2-10 advantage. A score by Cutler Mayer on an assist from Bryce Raby trimmed the lead to 4-10, but then the Jackrabbits scored 7 unanswered points to lead 4-17. A right-wing trey by Dario Montrone ended the run. A turnover-two and a steal-two by Mayer trimmed the margin to 11-19 and caused a GC time-out at 3:59. The Indians would pull within 7 (15-22) on a right elbow shot by Bryce Raby, but a 12-3 run by the Jackrabbit soon placed the Indians at a 18-34 deficit. St. Francis trailed 22-41 after three quarters of action. The margin would grow to 24-48 before the Indians scored again on a pair of free-throws by Wyatt Hilt. Another run by the Rabbits moved the scoreboard to 26-57 before the next Indian score on an assist from Brady Schoenrogge to Raby. St. Francis lost to Greeley County 34-60.
The Indians will play on Friday, February 22, in the semifinal round of the Regional Tournament in Rexford. The Indians will play Triplains-Brewster at 6:00 p.m. The Titans defeated Golden Plains 53-52 on Tuesday evening to advance to the semi-final contest.
Click the photos to see more photos!
