Indians Lose Heartbreaker in Colby
Both Boys and Girls Defeated by Eagles

On Tuesday, December 15th, the high school basketball teams traveled to Colby to compete with the Eagles. The St. Francis teams were both defeated by the teams from Colby. The boys lost a close game to the Eagles, while the girls lost by a large margin.

In boys action, the Indians jumped out to a 8-2 lead in the first period on drive to the basket by Matt Raile. The Indians led until 5:42 remained in the contest, but lost a heartbreaker to the Colby Eagles. St. Francis led 10-4 after one quarter of play. In the second period, the Indians stretched their lead to eleven points (22-11) by executing well offensively and playing aggressive defense. The Indians contested the Eagle shot attempts well and limited the Eagles to "one and done" with excellent rebounding. The Indians were up by nine points at half time (22-13).

The third quarter was well played by both teams. St. Francis led 26-19 with 5:19 remaining, but the Eagles hit some big shots and continued to trim into the lead. The Indians led by six (31-25) with 2:15 left. The Eagles continued to play hard and had cut the lead to four points (33-29) with 1:22 left in the quarter. The third period ended with the Indians in command 35-31, but the Eagles were gaining offensive momentum.

The Indians committed a couple of turnovers early in the fourth quarter and the Eagles responded by tying the game at 35 with 6:51 remaining in the contest. The Eagles took their first lead with 5:42 left when they took a 37-38 advantage. The Indians trailed by two (40-42) with 3:38 remaining. A Colby trey at 2:23 gave the Eagles a 42-45 advantage. A St. Francis turnover at 2:03 followed by a Colby rebound basket gave the Eagles some breathing room at 42-47. Another Indian miscue allowed the Eagles their final basket of the game at 1:08 for a 42-49 win.

The Indians only points of the fourth quarter came on free throws. The Indians did a good job in the contest getting into the bonus early in both halves to score points at the line. Trent Raile scored 22 points in the contest. Matt Raile added 9 and Isaac Schiltz 8. Colby was led by Stephens with 17. Arnberger had 11 (all in the 4th quarter, with 3 treys) and Winger scored 10 (all in the second half).

Coach Jeff Beims offered the following comments:  "This was a frustrating loss for us for several reasons. First and foremost we had a rare opportunity to beat Colby, and failed to finish them off. Secondly, the turnover bug reared its ugly head again. I had thought we had put that behind us, but I guess not. Thirdly we lost our composure under the pressure of a close game, and good teams can’t do that."

"I’m not sure how to coach composure other than to apply more pressure in practice. I also think part of the problem was we got tired toward the end of the game. The blame for that sits squarely on my shoulders and we will take steps to find a remedy. This will not be last close game we play this year. We are going to have to find the will and the way to finish off opponents."

"We had Colby down by as many as 12 in the first half, but to their credit they scratched and clawed their way back. Our response was to panic and get away from what got us the lead – fundamental defense, rebounding and running our offense crisply. As frustrating as this loss was, all we can do is learn from it and move on."

The junior varsity boys lost to Colby by a score of 30-77.

In girls action, the Colby Lady Eagles proved too much for the Lady Indians. The Lady Eagles led 2-16 after one quarter of play. The Lady Indians had difficulty handling the basketball against the tough defensive pressure applied by the Lady Eagles and committed numerous turnovers resulting in many easy shot attempts for the Colby team. Colby played their reserves early in the first half and throughout much of the contest. The Lady Indians trailed at halftime by a score of 4-28. Colby stretched the lead to thirty-one points (4-35) with 6:13 left in the third quarter, as the Lady Indians continued to make many miscues with the basketball. The third quarter buzzer found the Lady Indians trailing 6-41. The fourth quarter (running clock) ended with the Lady Eagles sounding defeating the Lady Indians by a score of 9-52.

Next action for the teams will be on Friday night when the teams travel to Oberlin to compete with the Decatur County Red Devils. Tip-off is at 6:30 PM.