St. Francis

The varsity boys basketball game between the Indians and the Dighton Hornets was very low-scoring. Both teams utilized good zone defenses and were patient offensively throughout most of their contest on Friday, January 11. Other than one possession during the game, St. Francis trailed until their was less than two minutes left in the game, but earned a 34-29 come-from-behind win over the Hornets.

Dighton received a left-corner trey from Kaden Bradstreet (6' 3" Jr.) and left-baseline jumper from Marcus Rowe (6' 3" Jr.) to earn a 0-5 lead early in the contest. Colton Neitzel placed the Indians on the scoreboard with back-to-back free-throws. David Cramer (6' 0" Sr.) added a right-wing jumper for the Hornets. With both teams being very patient against good zone defenses, points came slowly. Jesse Baxter earned a reverse baseline drive, but Rowe answered from the lane moments later. Baxter's jumper from the right baseline completed the first quarter scoring. St. Francis trailed 6-9 after one period of play.

A nice high-low post pass from Colton Neitzel led to a post basket by Jesse Baxter opening the second period. After the addition of a free-throw by David Cramer, Baxter's jumper in the lane tied the game at 10-all at the 5:40 mark. On the next Dighton possession, an assist from Cramer to Blaine Whipple (5' 10" So.) led to a top-of-the-key deuce. Cramer's driving score was followed by a Whipple score from the block. The addition of an offensive rebound basket by Cramer moved the deficit to 12-20. The Indians were struggling to keep pace with the Hornets and badly needed a basket. An assist from Baxter to Richard Johnson in the post resulted in a much-needed basket. Johnson soon added a driving score to move the scoreboard to 16-20 at halftime.

Only one basket was scored in the first four minutes of the third period; a left-corner shot by Cramer. At 4:36, Dighton called time-out. When the teams returned to the floor, both teams employed man-to-man defenses. Though the scoring rate did not change much, the player movement picked up. Cody Baxter earned a steal-two for the Indians, but Whipple soon followed with an offensive rebound basket. Several times during the remaining minutes of the contest, the Indians gave up multiple offensive rebounds to the Hornets, but the Hornets did not convert on many of the occasions. A free-throw by Colton Neitzel was followed by a buzzer-beater trey by Connor Keller. St. Francis trailed 22-24 at the third quarter break.

A 7:44, the Indians received a post basket (plus one) from Jesse Baxter to take a short-lived 25-24 lead. At 5:25, Marcus Rowe earned an out-of-bounds play score from the post to retake the lead. Jesse Baxter was called for a charge earning his 4th foul at 5:20. Baxter went to the bench for several minutes. The next score of the contest came from Rowe after a series of four offensive rebounds by the Hornets. The deficit was now 25-28. After re-entering the contest, Baxter earned a top-of-the-key trey. Cramer added a free-throw, but Baxter's high-post jumper tied the contest at 29-all with 1:55 to go. Josiah Sims earned two steals late in the contest; the second was converted into a right-corner trey by Brady Dinkel on an out-of-bounds play. At 1:18, Dighton committed a turnover, and St. Francis called time-out. With approximately 20 seconds left an assist from Connor Keller to Baxter in the post resulted in an important Indian score. The Indians held on to defeat the Hornets 34-29.

Jesse Baxter led all scorers with 17 points. Richard Johnson added 6. Connor Keller, Brady Dinkel, and Draven Houtman each scored 3. Cody Baxter added 2 points. The Indians made 4 of 6 from the line, committed 11 fouls, and had 22 turnovers.

The junior varsity boys won their first contest of the season defeating Dighton 38-36.

Dighton was led by David Cramer with 9 points. Marcus Rowe scored 8. The Hornets committed 16 turnovers, had 11 fouls, and made 2 of 4 from the stripe.

St. Francis will play Dighton in the opening round of the NWKL Tournament in Sharon Springs on Tuesday, January 15.

Click the photos to see more photos!

The St. Francis Lady Indians played well in their NWKL contest at Dighton on Friday, January 11. The Lady Indians shot the basketball well and played good team defense to earn a 50-35 win over a much taller team from Dighton. The junior varsity team also earned a two-quarter victory, 18-10.

Lauren Johnson opened the varsity contest with a trey from the right corner. It did not take Dighton long to answer. Ella Roberts (6' 0" Sr.) scored from the mid-post on the left side of the lane on the next two Dighton possessions to give the Lady Hornets a 3-4 lead. Alondra Gomez swished a shot from the left-wing (assist Lauren Johnson), but Roberts again scored from the mid-post on a short jumper. Emily Shepard (5' 6" Sr.) followed with a right-wing jumper giving Dighton their largest lead of the contest (4-8). Emma Johnson's left-wing trey soon re-tied the game. Roberts continued to show her dominance getting two more baskets close to the hoop. A right-baseline shot by Karly Bandel and a top-of-the-key jumper by Lauren Johnson gave the Lady Indians a slim 13-12 lead at the first-quarter horn.

Ella Roberts began the second period with another post basket. The score gave Ella 12 of the first 14 points scored by the Lady Hornets. Karly Bandel's top-of-the key trey placed St. Francis back in front for good (16-14). Lauren Johnson followed with a trey from the left wing. Dighton called time-out at 7:05 trailing 19-14. The Lady Indians good shooting would continue. Lindsey Johnson scored a driving basket and then added an offensive rebound basket. Soon Ella Roberts picked up her second foul and went to the bench. The move would be very beneficial to the Lady Indians as the Lady Hornets' main scoring threat was now off the floor. Neither team scored for more than two minutes and both used time-outs. At approximately 3 minutes, Dighton's Kendalee O'Brien (5' 7" Sr.) scored for the Lady Hornets. Lindsey Johnson answered with a nice post move for the Lady Indians. The final two baskets came on a cut through the lane by O'Brien and back-door cut by Lindsey Johnson (assist Bandel). St. Francis led at halftime 27-18.

It didn't take long to know that Ella Roberts was back on the court. Roberts scored the first basket of the third period from the post. She did not score again in the period due to a good defensive team effort by the Lady Indians. On the next possession, Lindsey Johnson answered from the post on the opposite goal. After a free-throw by Dighton's Justice Barton (6' 3" Sr.), Lindsey Johnson drained a right-wing three-ball giving the Lady Indians a double-digit lead (32-21). O'Brien swished back-to-back free-throws, but the Lady Indians scored the final two baskets of the third period; a left-corner deuce by Karly Bandel and a steal-right wing jumper at the buzzer by Emma Johnson. Neither team had added very many points to their totals in the third period, due to good defensive play by both teams. St. Francis had extended the lead to 36-23 at the third quarter break.

The final period opened with two free-throws by Karly Bandel. The charity tosses increased the Lady Indians' lead to fifteen (38-23). Justice Barton used her height advantage to earn a stick-back basket for Dighton, but Alondra Gomez soon drained a left-wing trey to counter. With six minutes left, Dighton used another time-out for strategy. After returning to action, Lindsey Johnson earned a right-wing deuce extending the advantage to 43-25. After a Lady Indian time-out, Traci Cramer (5' 7" Fr.) earn a steal-two. Emma Johnson scored a give-and-go basket on a pass from Jordyn Faulkender. Melanie Whipple's (5' 9" Jr.) free throw was followed by a left-wing jumper by O'Brien. The action reduced the margin to 45-30. Ella Roberts then earned a jumper at the left-elbow for her second basket of the half. Faulkender added a top-of-the-key shot and free-throw before Cramer chipped in another charity toss. Late in the contest, Hannah Zimbal swished two free-throws, and Roberts scored on a press-offense basket. St. Francis defeated the Dighton Lady Hornets 50-35.

The Lady Indians received balanced scoring from a number of players and shot a good percentage from the floor. Lindsey Johnson led the Lady Indians in scoring with 15 points. Karly Bandel added 9, Lauren Johnson chipped in 8, and Emma Johnson 7. Other Lady Indians scoring in the contest were Alondra Gomez 6, Jordyn Faulkender 3, and Hannah Zimbal 2. The Lady Indians made 5 of 9 from the free-throw line, had 14 fouls, and committed 21 turnovers.

Dighton was led in scoring by Ella Roberts with 18 points. Kenadee O'Brien added 8. The Lady Hornets made 5 of 12 from the stripe, had 18 turnovers, and committed 12 fouls.

The Lady Indians and Lady Hornets will match-up again on Tuesday, January 15, in the opening round of the NWKL Tournament in Sharon Springs.

Click the photos to see more photos!

The Northwest Kansas League High School Basketball Tournament will be held in Sharon Springs on Tuesday, January 15; Friday, January 18; and Saturday, January 19. The tournament will be played in two gyms at Wallace County High School.

The Lady Indians will play the Dighton Lady Hornets in their quarter-final contest on Tuesday, January 15. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 6:00 p.m.

The Indians will also play Dighton at approximately 7:30 p.m. Both the St. Francis contests will be played in the JV Gym at Wallace County High School.

Click here to view the tournament brackets.

The teams were seeded on to the brackets by season record on Thursday, January 10th. The Lady Indians earned the 5th seed. The other girls teams and their records are listed below.

The Indians earned the 3rd seed. The boys team records and seeds are on the chart below.

Good luck Indians and Lady Indians!

The Kansas Reading Roadmap Program is coming to St. Francis! Kansas Reading Roadmap (KRR) is a program designed to help students improve their reading level and thereby make improvements in their educational success and life prospect.

The KRR program has already been initiated in 63 communities across Kansas. St. Francis will be beginning the KRR program in January of 2019. The KRR program works with public schools to assure that all children are reading at grade level by the second semester of their third grade year of education. Reading research has shown that children reading at grade level by the fourth grade are four times more likely to graduate high school on time and over the course of their lifetime these students make $400,000 more in earnings. Reading truly is a key component of success.

St. Francis Elementary School will launch the KRR program in January. The program will target kindergarten through third grade students to raise their reading skills. The program is targeted, but not limited to, striving readers. The after-school program will be aligned with the curriculum taught during the school day and will reinforce skills that should be mastered for reading proficiency.

Kattie Aldaco has been hired to be the KRR coordinator for the St. Francis Schools. Kattie had been working as a paraprofessional at the high school, but will now assume the position of KRR coordinator. Kattie is a 2008 graduate of St. Francis High School.

The St. Francis program will have students meeting with Mrs. Aldaco for additional reading help after school on Monday through Thursday. The students will work to improve their reading skills through songs, stories, poems, and other reading activities that are fun and aligned with the regular curriculum. The students will also receive a healthy snack during the reading session.

The program also brings parents and siblings of the students to the school to support the student's reading progress. A series of eight sessions of Literacy-Integrated Family Engagement activities will involve the family members. The program will also include summer reading instruction.

The Kansas Reading Roadmap is a partnership between the Kansas Technical Assistance System Network, the Kansas Department for Children and Families, and the local school.

A grant award ceremony was held at the St. Francis Grade School on Thursday, December 13. In attendance were Andrew Hysell, Kansas Reading Roadmap director; Rick Billinger, State Senator; Rob Schiltz, superintendent of schools; David Morrow, high school principal; Darla Raile, grade school principal,; Kattie Aldaco, St. Francis KRR coordinator; and Tabitha Brotherton, KRR Senior Program Manager; as well and many other faculty and students.

Click this link to view a video of the KRR grant award ceremony held at the St. Francis Grade School.

Click this link to learn more about the KRR Grant. (Hays Post article)

Click this link to access the Kansas Reading Roadmap website.

Click this link to view the KRR Facebook page.