Boys Defeat Logan; Advance To Championship Game
In a battle between two quality teams, the Indians played well enough to defeat the Logan Trojans in the semi-final round of the Brewster Sagebrush Classic Tournament on Friday evening, December 13. The Indians received scoring from each of the 7 players who played in the contest along with some excellent defensive performances as well. St. Francis defeated Logan 52-43 to move into the championship contest on Saturday, December 14 against the Triplains-Brewster Titans.
Brady Dinkel gave the Indians an early lead scoring the first basket of the contest. Dinkel folllowed his opening score with another bucket on a high-low post assist from Jesse Baxter. Baxter's next assist led to a left-wing trey by Adam Krien giving the Indians a 7-0 lead. The Trojans' first basket came on a right-wing deuce by Ian Sparks (6' 0" Jr.). Krien's next trey, from the top-of-the-key, triggered a Logan time-out at 3:25 with the Indians leading 10-2. The advantage would grow to 15-2 with the addition of a right-elbow jumper by Baxter and another trey by Krien. But....momentum was about to shift. Logan scored the final 5 points of the first quarter receiving back-to-back free-throws by Dylan Van Laeys (6' 3" So.) and a left-wing trey from Kylor Hogan (6' 3: So.). St. Francis led 15-7 after one quarter of play.
The Logan run would continue in the second period. Two right-wing treys; one by Kylor Hogan and one by Josh Uhland (5' 10" So.) narrowed the Indians' advantage to two (15-13). After a free-throw by Colton Neitzel, Ty Kats (5' 11" So.) scored on a runner in the lane. The Trojans took the lead with 4:12 left in the second period on a driving basket by Kats (16-17). Ian Sparks then added a basket in the lane (plus one). An offensive rebound basket by Nate Cruz (5' 11" Sr.) placed the Indians at a 16-20 deficit. The Trojans had out-scored the Indians 20-1 to take control. Colton Neitzel earned the first basket of the second period for the Indians; a score in the lane. Sparks soon answered with a left-wing trey for the Trojans. Uhland moved the deficit to 18-29 with a basket in the paint moments later. Brady Dinkel drained a buzzer-beater trey as he crossed mid-court in the final seconds. The deep trey was the second basket of the period for the Indians. The teams headed to their locker rooms with the Indians trailing 21-29. The Indians had been out-scored 22-6 in the second period.
The Indians returned to the floor with what appeared to be a renewed emphasis on defense. As the Indians executed better, both on offense and defense, the outcome of the game seemed to tip more in favor of St. Francis. Adam Krien drained a trey in transition to get the Indians on the scoreboard quickly. Zach Jansonius (6' 1" Sr.) answered on a drive for Logan. Josiah Sims added a steal-two and a free-throw moving the Indians within four (27-31). The action triggered a Logan time-out at 4:18. After returning to the court, Jesse Baxter scored on a nice baseline drive trimming the margin to two. Ty Kats answered with an acrobatic scooping drive moments later. The Indians were about to make a run. Ben Busse's right-wing trey moved the Indians within one (32-33). Adam Krien's baseline drive gave St. Francis the lead at the 2:20 mark. A steal and assist by Brady Dinkel led to a Busse transition basket. Dinkel then earned a steal-two giving the Indians a five-point lead (38-33). Logan had seen enough and called time-out with 59.1 seconds left in the third period. Only one more basket would be scored in the quarter; a driving basket by Kats. St. Francis had played well in the quarter, especially defensively, and now led 38-35.
However, the Trojans were not going to roll over and came out swinging in the final stanza. Dylan Van Laeys opened the final period with a basket in the lane. At 5:25, Nat Cruz scored from the post returning the lead back to the Trojans (38-39). Nine seconds later, Cruz fouled out of the game, and Adam Krien converted one-of-two from the stripe. On the next possession, Ian Sparks added a post basket moving the score to 39-41. St. Francis answered on their possession receiving a right-elbow jumper from Krien (assist Preston Witzel). Krien's consecutive free-throws returned the lead to St. Francis (43-41). With 3:05 left, Sparks tied the contest at 43-all with a basket from the block. It would be the last Trojan score of the game. St. Francis followed with a 9-point run to close the contest. Jesse Baxter's assist set up a right-wing trey by Witzel. Baxter's next assist led to a left-wing trey by Dinkel. Trailing 49-43, the Trojans called time-out with 2:12 remaining. Neither team would score in the next minute-plus; and with 36 seconds left, Logan used another time-out. With 35 seconds left, Kats fouled Brady Dinkel on an inbounds pass. Brady sank both free-throws moving the scoreboard to 51-43. After another Logan time-out at 25.9 seconds, Preston Witzel sank one-of-two to make the final score St. Francis 52 - Logan 43.
Adam Krien led all scorers with 19 points for the Indians. Brady Dinkel added 14. Other Indians contributing to the scoring total were Ben Busse 5, Jesse Baxter 4, Preston Witzel 4, Josiah Sims 3, and Colton Neitzel 3. The Indians made 8 of 17 from the line, had 11 fouls, and committed 12 turnovers.
Logan was led in scoring by Ian Sparks with 12 points. Ty Kats added 8, and Kylor Hogan and Nate Cruz each scored 6. The Trojans had 19 turnovers, made 3 of 5 from the line, and were whistled for 18 fouls.
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