Basketball Teams Defeated by Oakley
The St. Francis high school basketball teams were soundly defeated by the teams from Oakley on Friday, January 15th. Neither Indian team was truly in the game after the first quarter ended. The Lady Indians were defeated by a 32-61 score, and the Indians dropped a 36-69 contest to the Plainsmen.
In varsity girls action, the Lady Indians fell behind 0-10 with less than four minutes gone in the contest and trailed 0-15 with approximately three minutes remaining in the first quarter. Using full court pressure and causing numerous turnovers, the Lady Plainsmen extended their lead to 0-18 before the Lady Indians scored. The first quarter ended with the Lady Indians trailing 4-20.
In the second quarter, the Lady Indians played somewhat better, but the deficit increased to 6-29 early in the quarter. The halftime score stood at 13-33.
In the third quarter, the Lady Indians rallied to cut the lead to 12 points at one point, but Oakley recovered and led 24-45 at the end of three periods. Oakley extended the lead to 31 points in the fourth quarter and the game finished with a running clock according to NWKL rules. The Lady Indians were defeated by a good Oakley team, 32-61.
No Lady Indians scored in double figures. Shayla Hilt and Jalyn McCauley each scored 8 points. The Lady Plainsmen were led by Hubert with 15, R. Hemmert with 12, and Dennis with 10.
The junior varsity girls were defeated by the Plainsmen 15-53.
The varsity boys matchup was similar to the girls game. St. Francis fell behind 2-11 early and trailed 6-21 at the end of the first quarter. The Plainsmen used hot 3 point shooting, good offensive execution, and aggressive defense to extend the lead to 20 points (8-28) with 5:48 remaining in the second quarter. The Plainsmen led 13-41 at halftime. Loftus had 21 points on seven treys at the break for Oakley.
St. Francis continued to make many ball handling errors against the Oakley defensive pressure throughout the game. The Indians trailed 26-57 after three quarters of play. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock. St. Francis lost the contest 36-69.
Trent Raile led the Indians in scoring with 13 points. Matt Raile added 10. Oakley made 11 three point shots in the game. Loftus scored 31 points (9 treys) and Ahrens added 19.
Coach Jeff Beims had the following comments on the boys varsity game:
"I don’t know who that was in the green jerseys in Oakley Friday night, but they weren’t the team I’ve been watching all year. We got devasted on the boards against Oakley, we just seemed to quit defending altogether, and all that may have been the result of our inability to hit a shot early. Oakley was simply on fire for the first 16 minutes of the ball game, and we found ourselves in a significant hole midway through the first quarter. I’m disappointed that we don’t respond better to those situations. Instead of pulling ourselves off the deck, determined to play respectably, there is an almost visible forboding that begins, with a slight slumping of the shoulders, and culminates in an acceptance of the inevitable blowout. I know our guys are better competitors than that, but I’ve yet to actually see it."
St. Francis also lost the junior varsity and C-Team games played at the Impact Center.
Up next for the Indian teams will be Hayes Center, Nebraska, on the road on Friday, January 22nd. Information from the Nebraska School Activities Association shows the Hayes Center girls record as 4-8. The Hayes Center boys are undefeated and third in the D2 (smallest class in NE) point standings.
