Indians Defeat Wichita County in Thriller
The St. Francis Indian varsity defeated Wichita County (Leoti) in overtime on Friday, January 10, in Leoti. The Indians escaped with a hard-earned 48-47 win. The junior varsity team defeated Wichita County 38-35 in another close game.
St. Francis jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead. Jacob Baxter sank a jumper from the high post and Mason Schiltz drained a trey to give the Indians the early lead. Several minutes passed before either team scored again. Wichita County (WC) scored their first basket at 4:15, and soon held a 5-6 advantage. The Indians then scored seven unanswered points - a free throw by Wyatt Landenberger, a post move by Baxter, a steal-two by Landenberger, and a nice drive by Mason Schiltz, to lead 12-6. Taylor Rogers scored the final point of the quarter on a free throw. The Indians led 13-8 after one period of play.
Jantz Budde scored the first basket of the second period for Wichita County to trim the margin to three, but soon the Indians led by ten. Lenny Olivares scored the final basket of the St. Francis run to put the Indians ahead 21-11. The Indians led 23-16 at halftime.
The Indians scored the first basket of the third period, a shot from the right wing by Mason Schiltz on an out-of-bounds play. After getting a basket by Jacob Baxter and two free throws by Cade Bracelin, the Indians led 29-19. Wichita County soon trimmed the lead to six (29-23) on another Budde basket. The third period closed with the Indians leading 31-25; but three Indians, Rogers, Bracelin, and Baxter, each also had three fouls.
The Indians opened the final period with a few miscues. Wichita County capitalized on the turnovers and turned them into scores. After a well-executed fast-break, Wichita County had trimmed the deficit to 33-31. Another St. Francis turnover resulted in another WC break, and the home-standing Indians tied the contest at 33 with 6:08 remaining in the game. After a St. Francis time out, the Indians executed well on offense to earn a post-move basket by Cade Bracelin. But...another turnover resulted in another WC score. The next Indian turnover gave Wichita County the lead (35-37) with 4:05 remaining. Taylor Rogers tied the game (38-38) with a nice driving basket at 3:34. WC responded with a basket, but Wyatt Landenberger tied the contest again (40-40) when he calmly sank two free throws with 2:58 left. The next two WC possessions resulted in free throws, and WC led by three (40-43) at 2:23. Wichita County called time out. After returning to the court, it appeared that the WC strategy was to run out the clock and force the Indians to foul. Instead, Wichita County committed a turnover. The Indians earned a good shot, but missed. At 1:05, Wichita County again committed a turnover, and St. Francis called time out to setup a play. With 52 seconds left, Wyatt Landenberger scored on a drive to get the Indians within one point (42-43). The Indians were forced to foul to stop the clock. Wichita County's Casey Day made one of the free throws to earn a two-point lead. The Indians executed well in the closing moments, and earned a post-move basket by Cade Bracelin with 13.6 seconds left to tie the game. St. Francis called time-out to set up their defense. Wichita County missed their final shot attempt in regulation and the game went into overtime.
Wichita County took a 44-45 lead on a free throw with 3:41 left in overtime. The Indians committed turnovers in their next two possessions, but Wichita County failed to score on either one. A few plays later, Taylor Rogers was fouled while rebounding. Taylor made one free throw to tie the contest at 45-all. On the play, 6' 4" senior, Brock Sheppard, fouled out of the game for Wichita County. With 2:05 left in the game, Wichita County's Gabe Fletcher scored from the post, and the Indians trailed by two points. A Wichita County turnover with 50 seconds left gave the Indians possession of the ball and a chance to tie or win. Wyatt Landenberger was fouled with 31.7 seconds left and made one of two. On the second free throw attempt, Cade Bracelin rebounded the basketball and made an assist to Mason Schiltz who scored to put the Indians up 48-47. After a Wichita County time-out, Wyatt Landenberger rebounded the missed trey attempt and was fouled with 5.1 seconds left. Wyatt failed to make either free throw, and WC rebounded the second miss, and called time-out again with 4.5 seconds to play. Wichita County inbounded the ball under the St. Francis basket and took it the length of the floor on a drive, but missed the final shot. The Indians won a hard-fought victory over the Wichita County Indians 48-47 in overtime.
St. Francis played well in the contest, and received a good balance in their scoring with Mason Schiltz scoring 11, Wyatt Landenberger 10, Jacob Baxter 10, and Cade Bracelin 7. The Indians were 13-23 from the stripe and 17 of 43 from the field (40%). Jacob Baxter grabbed 13 rebounds, Cade Bracelin 11, and Taylor Rogers 7.
Wichita County was led by Jantz Budde (6' 1" senior) with 19 points. Gabe Fletcher (6' 4" sophomore) added 14. Fletcher scored 10 points in the second half. Wichita County was 13-24 from the free-throw line and 17 of 54 from the field (31%).
Coach Beims had the following comments on the win, "The win over Leoti on the road was good for us. Gives us a win in our league which is good top to bottom this year, and it extends our mini winning streak to three. We led most of the game by 6-10 points, but allowed Leoti to go on a ten point run early in the 4th quarter. We had to buckle down and scratch and claw our way to a win in overtime. I think these kinds of wins are great for building the character of a team (but not real great for the health of the coaches.) It shows us that when things are going against us in a loud environment on the road, we can find a way to win. This won’t be the last close game we will play this year, so it’s good to know we have it in us."
The junior varsity team defeated Wichita County 38-35, after trailing throughout most of the contest. The fourth quarter rally was just enough for the Indians to earn another win.
The Indians will play a good Dighton team, in St. Francis, on Friday, January 17th.
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