Final Minutes Decide Contest
Almost! The Indians played well throughout most of the championship game of the Regional Tournament and nearly handed an excellent Northern Valley team their third loss of the season. Though the Indians trailed early in the contest, they regained the lead late in the first half and led throughout most of the second half. The Northern Valley Huskies regained the lead with less than 4 minutes left and won the regional championship 41-51.
The Indians now advance to the Sub-State Tournament to be held in WaKeeney on Friday, March 1, and will play the Wallace County Wildcats (20-2) at 6:00 p.m. Also in the WaKeeney Regional are Central Plains (23-0) and Stockton (8-14). The winners of St. Francis-Wallace County and Central Plains-Stockton games will play on Saturday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m. for the Sub-State championship and a berth in the 1A State Tournament in Dodge City the following week.
Colton Neitzel scored the first basket of the contest for the Indians on a strong post move. Northern Valley's (NV) Nicholas Stutsman (6' 2" Sr.) soon answered in the lane. A nice assist from K.C. Krien led to a second Netizel basket. Brady Dinkel's coast-to-coast drive gave the Indians a 6-2 early advantage. After a St. Francis turnover, Riley Sides (6' 1" Sr.) scored on a nice cross-over lay-up. With 2:30 left in the first period, a St. Francis turnover led to a right-wing trey by Ross Cole (6' 0" Sr.) giving the Huskies their first lead of the contest (6-7). Riley Sides (6' 1" Sr.) followed with a lay-up, and Cole added a three-ball from the left-wing shortly thereafter. When Fabian Loya (6' 4" Jr.) scored on a beautiful post move, after another Indian turnover, the Huskies lead 6-14 scoring on four straight possessions. The Indians needed a score badly to stop the Huskies 0-12 run. An assist from Richard Johnson set up a basket by Jesse Baxter, but on the next possession Sides scored again. The Huskies were looking sharp leading 8-16, but the Indians had come to compete.
Jesse Baxter opened the second period with a post basket. Richard Johnson followed with another post score for the Indians trimming the deficit to 12-16. Riley Sides then added a left-wing trey. St. Francis used their first time-out at 6:07 trailing 12-19. After returning to action, an Indian turnover resulted in two free-throws by Sides increasing the margin to nine. Moments later, a pair of free-throws by Adam Krien answered. On the next NV possession, Colton Neitzel positioned well and drew a charge on Ross Cole's drive. The play seemed to aid the Indians' momentum, and even though Cole scored a right-wing trey a bit later, the Indians were about to make a move. Adam Krien's assist set up a right-wing trey by Brady Dinkel. Jesse Baxter's assist led to a trey by Connor Keller from the left-corner. Dinkel's next trey (left-wing) pulled the Indians within one (23-24). With 1:33 remaining in the first half, a jumper in the lane by Baxter gave the Indians a 25-24 advantage. Baxter would add two more on the next Indian possession on a drive. St. Francis led 27-25 at halftime, after the addition of a free-throw by NV's Fabian Loya.
The Indians opened the second half with another trey; a left-corner shot by Brady Dinkel. Jesse Baxter followed with an offensive rebound basket giving the Indians their largest lead of the contest--seven points (32-25). NV's used their first time-out at 5:07. At 4:20, Riley Sides scored on a drive (plus one) for the Huskies. Baxter soon answered with a shot from the left elbow, but Alex Van Patten (6' 0" Jr.) drained a right-corner trey moments later. At 2:29, the Indians used their second time-out to prevent a turnover against the pressuring defense of the Huskies. After returning to play, the Indians earned left-corner trey by Dinkel on an assist from Adam Krien. Fabian Loya's stick-back basket completed the third period scoring. The Indians led 37-33 after three quarters of action.
After an quarter-opening turnover by St. Francis, NV's Riley Sides swished a trey from the right corner to open the final stanza (37-36). On the next Huskie possession, at 6:53, Sides added a driving score (plus one) returning the lead to the Huskies (37-39). On the ensuing Indian possession, Brady Dinkel scored on a drive after an out-of-bounds play assist by Connor Keller tying the contest. K.C. Krien soon added a basket on a strong drive to the goal. At 4:05, Cody Baxter was whistled for a charge, and eleven seconds later, Van Patten drained a three-ball for the Huskies regaining the lead (41-42). At 3:17, NV used another time-out and returned to the floor to execute a beautiful series ending in an assist from Sides to Loya and a short-range score. After the Indians failed to convert a pair of free-throws, NV took another time-out at 2:07. Again, the Huskies executed perfectly, and Caden Bach (6' 1" Sr.) added a post basket giving the Huskies a five-point advantage (41-46). Possessing a five-point lead, the Huskies became very deliberate with the basketball. The Indians were forced to foul and needed to give two fouls to move the Huskies into the bonus. With 51.2 seconds remaining, Sides swished two free-throws moving the advantage to 41-48. The Indians committed a turnover on the their next possession and were forced to foul again. This time, Sides missed the front end of the one-and-one. Unfortunately, another Indian turnover resulted in an uncontested lay-up by Sides with 25 seconds remaining. The Huskies would add one more free-throw in the final moments; this one by Ivan Varela (5' 11" Jr.). The Huskies had been nearly perfect in the final minutes, and advanced as Regional champions, 41-51. The Huskies out-scored the Indians 4-18 in the final period.
The Huskies were led in scoring by Riley Sides with 22 points (10 in 4th qtr.). Ross Cole added 9, Alex Van Patten 8, and Fabian Loya 7. The Huskies were 8 of 11 from the stripe, had only 9 turnovers, and were whistled for 9 fouls.
St. Francis received 16 points from Brady Dinkel and 12 from Jesse Baxter. Others contributing to the Indians' total were Colton Neitzel 4, Conner Keller 3, Adam Krien 2, K.C. Krien 2, and Richard Johnson 2. The Indians only shot 4 free-throws in the game; making 2. The Indians had 14 fouls and 17 turnovers (11 in the 2nd half).
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