Lady Indians Place Second
The Lady Indian basketball team placed second in the Sagebrush Classic Tournament in Brewster on Saturday, December 14. The Lady Indians played well but were defeated by the Golden Plains Lady Bulldogs in the championship contest 38-50. Before the championship contest, Karly Bandel won the girls 3-point shootout and Hannah Zimbal won the girls free-throw shooing contest.
St. Francis led throughout the first half, but the scrappy Lady Bulldogs gradually overtook the lead in the third period and capitalized on some excellent free-throw shooting, good ball-control, and several treys to earn the victory.
Karly Bandel placed the Lady Indians on the board with a pair of free-throws in the early moments. Zoey Hillis (6' 0" Sr.) tied the game at 2-all on an out-of-bounds play score in the lane. Alondra Gomez's steal-two placed the Lady Indians back in front, and Rian Zimbal's post basket gave St. Francis a 6-2 advantage. Golden Plains (GP) used their first time-out at 2:28. The scoring picked up pace in the final two minutes of the first period. After a Bandel free-throw, Hillis added an offensive rebound basket. Rian Zimbal answered with a stick-back for St. Francis on the opposite end. A left-wing trey by Ashley Stoll (5' 8" Jr.) moved the Lady Bulldogs within two (9-7). Zimbal followed with a post-move basket, but Stoll connected from the right baseline to make the score 11-9 at the first quarter break.
The Lady Indians made a nice run to open the second period. Three assists by Karly Bandel resulted in three quick baskets for the Lady Indians; a lane basket by Rian Zimbal, a transition bucket by Alondra Gomez, and a left-wing-trey by Gomez. St. Francis had taken an 18-9 lead, and GP had seen enough. The Lady Dawgs used their second time-out with 6:13 remaining in the second period. After returning to action, McKenna Poling found Gomez open on a cut into the lane for another St. Francis score. Both teams spent the next few minutes trying to score, but having little success. At 2:45, Brooke Stoll (5' 6" Jr.) drained a trey from the top-of-the-key for the Lady Bulldogs. The basket triggered a St. Francis time-out. Rian Zimbal's offensive rebound score preceded two free-throws by Taryn Fleckenstien (5' 8" Sr.). Rian followed with two free-throws of her own. The final score of the first half came on an left-wing trey by Ashley Stoll. St. Francis led 24-17 at halftime.
Kassie Miller (5' 6" So.) opened the second half scoring with a free-throw for GP. Hannah Zimbal added a transition basket on an assist from Emma Johnson. Miller then drained a trey from the top-of-the-key moving the Lady Bulldogs within five (26-21). An offensive rebound basket by GP's Carli Nieman (5' 10" So.) narrowed the margin a bit more, and St. Francis called time-out with 4:48 remaining in the third period. After returning to action, Ellee Krien earned a steal-two for the Lady Indians. At 3:24, Karly Bandel picked up her 4th foul and headed to the bench. Miller's trey narrowed the Lady Indian led to two (28-26). The next GP trey, this one from the left-wing by Ashley Stoll, gave GP a 28-29 lead with 2:45 remaining in the third period. The Lady Dawgs weren't through with this run and added a turnover-two by Miller and a right elbow jumper by Zoey Hillis (assist Miller) to take a 28-33 advantage. With 2:22 remaining, St. Francis used a time-out attempting to regroup. Jordyn Faulkender's offensive rebound basket ended the GP run, but the 10-0 explosion and placed the Lady Indians at a disadvantage. Brooke Stoll added a free-throw moments before the buzzer to give GP a 30-34 lead at the third period break.
Emma Johnson scored on a drive to begin the final quarter. The basket was soon answered by a score by Kassie Miller. Brooke Stoll then added a driving basket giving GP a six-point advantage (38-32). At 5:43, Alondra Gomez received her 4th foul and Miller added two more free-throws. Free-throws by Carli Nieman and Ashley Stoll moved the score to 32-43. With 3:36 left in the contest, Karly Bandel fouled out. Ashely Stoll made two more free-throws adding to the GP total. Moments later another SF foul resulted in two free-throws by Brooke Stoll. The deficit was now 34-47. Emma Johnson's assist led to a post basket by Rian Zimbal narrowing the gap a bit. At 2:19, St. Francis took a time-out. In the next 12 seconds, Miller added a free-throw and Zimbal scored from the post. GP called time-out with 2:00 remaining. Returning to the floor, the Lady Dawgs used "stall" tactics to burn the clock. Emma Johnson fouled out a few seconds later. At 1:26, Gomez also fouled out. Miller drained two final free-throws late in the game to make the final score 38-50. The Lady Bulldogs had out-scored the Lady Indians 34-14 in the second half, capitalizing on foul trouble by the Lady Indians to win the contest.
Kassie Miller led all scorers with 17 points (all in the 2nd half). Ashley Stoll added 14. Brooke Stoll chipped in 8 and Zoey Hills 6 for the Lady Bulldogs. GP recorded 14 fouls, had 14 turnovers, and made 17 of 20 from the stripe.
St. Francis was led in scoring by Rian Zimbal with 16 points. Alondra Gomez added 9. Others scoring for St. Francis were Jordyn Faulkender 4, Karly Bandel 3, Ellee Krien 2, Emma Johnson 2 and Hannah Zimbal 2. The Lady Indians had 21 turnovers, 23 fouls, and made 5 of 11 from the line.
The Lady Indians will play Holyoke, CO on Tuesday, December 17 in St. Francis.
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