Tigers Bite Indians
JV & C Team Boys Win
The St. Francis Indians traveled to Benkelman, Nebraska, on Friday, December 21, to compete with the Dundy County Stratton (DCS) Tigers. A good Tiger team defeated the Indians in the varsity contest. St. Francis won both the JV boys and C team boys games in exciting fashion.
The JV boys fell behind early in the contest, but began to recover late in the first period. Cade Bracelin connected on a trey from the corner to cut the Tiger lead to 14-17 with just over a minute left in the first period. A nice pass from Jude Faulkender led to another Bracelin score and the deficit was down to one, 16-17. The first quarter ended with the Indians down 16-19.
The second period opened with a basket by Jacob Baxter to get the Indians within one again. But the Indians would commit several turnovers and fell behind 18-25 with 5:45 left in the first half. The Indians struggled for the rest of the half and went to the locker room trailing 23-37.
The Indians returned to the floor and began to play much better. As the second half continued, the Indians worked their way back into contention and tied the contest in the last few seconds on a free throw by Keegan Sherlock to send the game into overtime. The Indians won the contest in overtime, 63-56.
In the varsity contest, the Indians tied the game at 2-all on a nice pass by Wyatt Landenberger to Kyler Zweygardt. A trey by Mason Schiltz tied the contest at 7-7. The scored advanced to 9-10 when Kyler Zweygardt scored on a nice post-move. The Indians were keeping pace with Tigers, but then the Indians became sloppy. The Indians began shooting quickly from long range and passing the basketball carelessly, leading to several empty offensive possessions. Meanwhile, the Tigers were taking advantage of the errors and led 9-23 after one period of play.
The Indians got a couple baskets from Mason Schiltz early in the second period, and cut the deficit to ten points (17-27) with 4:55 left in the half. The Tigers then began a streak of hot-shooting and opened the point margin to 18-41 at halftime.
The Indians returned from the locker room looking like a different team. Using good team work and patient offensive execution, the Indians began chipping away at the Tiger lead. Quick post-move baskets by Kyler Zweygardt and Dylan Peter to open the second half showed a new purpose in the Indian attack. A basket (plus one) by Cade Bracelin, off a Schiltz assist, moved the score to 29-49. Another post move basket by Bracelin got the Indians within 14 points (35-49). The third period closed with the Indians playing well, and threatening, 37-50.
The Indians pulled within twelve, 38-50, early in the fourth period, but could get no closer. The Tigers scored 5 unanswered points before a Bracelin pass led to a Dylan Peter basket (plus one). The margin widened to 20 points, 42-62, before the Indians cut the margin a bit late in the contest. The Indians played very well at times against a good DCS team, but lost the contest 48-63.
Kyler Zweygardt led the Indians in scoring with 16 points. Mason Schiltz added 15. Cade Bracelin and Dylan Peter each chipped in 6. The Indians were 15-21 from the free throw line. The Indians shot 38% from the field (1-13 on 3's - 8%; 15-29 on 2's -52%). Steve Nelson led the Indians with 9 rebounds. St. Francis committed 26 turnovers.
DCS was received 14 from Tyler Freeland (Sr.), 13 from Joe Rettele (Sr.), 11 from Cade Duval (Jr.), and 8 from Dylan Petersen (Sr.). The Tigers were 10-20 from the stripe.
The Indians won the C team contest in come-back fashion. The Indians trailed by double digits early in the two-quarter contest, but came back to win 28-27, fueled by some hot-shooting by Jude Faulkender. Faulkender scored almost all of the Indian points scored in the contest.
The Indians will play Wichita County in St. Francis on Friday, January 4th.
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