Indians Defeat Logan Trojans
The St. Francis Indians defeated the Logan Trojans in the consolation semifinals of the Brewster Sagebrush Classic Basketball Tournament on December 13th. The game was close throughout, and tied a few times, but the Indians only trailed once in the contest. The Indians earned a 59-51 victory in a very competitive game.
Logan scored the first basket of the game to take their only lead of the night. Mason Schiltz tied the contest by scoring on an offensive rebound. Wyatt Landenberger scored on a nice drive through the Trojan defense on the second Indian possession. After a basket by Taylor Rogers and a drive by Schiltz, the Indians were up 8-2. Jacob Baxter made two nice assists leading to buckets by Schiltz and Cade Bracelin to give the Indians a 12-6 advantage. The Indians closed the period with two strong baskets from the post area; one by Baxter (assist Landenberger) and one by Bracelin (assist Schiltz). The Indians were up 16-8 after one period of play.
Logan's defense changed from man-to-man to zone in the second period, and the offensive action slowed a bit as both teams worked hard for good shots. Mason Schiltz answered a Logan score with a jump shot before Logan drove the baseline to cut the margin to 18-12. A nice pass by Carl Fabre led to a Lenny Olivares score, but the Trojans scored a fast-break basket a few seconds later. A steal by Wyatt Landenberger, who went coast-to-coast, returned the Indian lead to eight points (22-14). Stockton cut the margin to two (22-20) by scoring after consecutive Indian turnovers. A basket by Bracelin stopped the Trojan run, but a Logan trey pulled the Trojan's within one point (24-23) at the 1:20 mark of the second period. An assist by Lenny Olivares set up a Schiltz baseline drive for two. The Trojans scored on an offensive rebound on their next possession. An Olivares basket gave St. Francis a slim 28-25 lead at halftime.
Logan scored the first basket of the third period. Bracelin answered with a nice post move. Logan scored on the next possession. It was becoming obvious that winning the game, by either team, would not be easy. Consecutive baskets by Schiltz and Bracelin (assist Rogers) increased the Indian lead to five points (34-29). The margin continued to swing between three and five points until the Trojans converted an "old-fashioned" three-point play in the final minute of the third period. St. Francis led 40-38 after three periods.
A Trojan jump shot from the top of the key tied the contest at the 7:45 mark. The Indians responded well, getting a Bracelin basket, a Schiltz steal and basket, and an offensive rebound bucket from Wyatt Landenberger to take a 46-40 lead. Logan trimmed the lead to four twice before an assist from Jacob Baxter led to another Bracelin score, and the Indians went up by eight (52-44). On the next Trojan possession, Taylor Rogers earned a steal and was fouled going to the basket. Rogers made one of two. Another steal led to a Rogers basket at the 2:58 mark giving the Indians a double-digit lead 55-44. St. Francis committed three consecutive turnovers with just over a minute to play, but the Trojans only converted one to points. The Indians defeated the scrappy Logan Trojan team 59-51.
Cabe Bracelin scored 18 points for the Indians. Mason Schiltz added 16. Wyatt Landenberger and Jacob Baxter each contributed 8 points. The Indians made 5 of 7 free throws in the game (5 of 6 in the fourth quarter). The Indians were 27 of 49 from the field, but 0 of 12 from three-point range. Jacob Baxter grabbed 7 rebounds and Cade Bracelin 6.
Logan shot 43% from the field (22-51) and 6 of 9 from the free throw line. Regan Kats led the Trojans with 19 points. Pinkerton scored 15 and Beck 8.
Coach Jeff Beims made the following comments on the Logaen game, "We played a scrappy Logan team in the second round of the Sagebrush Tournament on Friday, and got our first win of the season. I felt like we played a lot better on the offensive end of the floor. We like to run but we can get out of control at times doing so. We did much better pushing the tempo while not allowing our feet to get ahead of our brain.
Defensively, we are getting better, but still need work. It is a matter of recognizing what’s happening on the floor, and then taking away what our opponent is trying to do. Basketball is very much a “thinking man’s game”, and just like most other intellectual pursuits, it takes time to learn and apply the lessons."
The Indians will play Heartland Christian for fifth place in the Sagebrush Classic Tournament at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 14th.
Click the photos to see more photos!
