Indians Slay The Dragons
St. Francis won both contests played against the visiting Holyoke Dragons on Tuesday, December 17. The junior varsity contest only consisted of two 4-minute quarters, but the Indians prevailed 10-6. In the varsity contest, St. Francis never trailed after the mid-point of the first period and rolled to a 60-44 victory.
St. Francis jumped out to a 5-0 advantage in the junior varsity game receiving a baseline line drive from Preston Witzel and a driving score from Ben Busse. With the addition of a Witzel free-throw, the Indians led 5-0. Holyoke's Gage Sprague (5' 9" So.) added a baseline drive late in the first period to bring the score to 5-2 at the break.
Ben Busse added a free-throw and a basket in the lane early in the final period. Cutler Mayer chipped in two free-throws moving the scoreboard to 10-2. Manuel Gonzalez (5' 9" Fr.) scored on a steal-two and Sprague added a turnover-two in the final moments. St. Francis won the shortened JV contest 10-6.
In the varsity contest, Adam Krien opened the scoring with a driving basket. Holyoke's Caleb Deaver (6' 4" Sr.) answered with a offensive rebound basket. The Dragon's Miles Sprague (6' 0" So.) followed with a basket from the left baseline. After a St. Francis turnover, Ethan Johnson (6' 0" So.) scored placing the Indians at a 2-6 deficit. The Indians responded well. The Indians scored the next 12 points of the contest to lead 14-6. Brady Dinkel jump-started the action with a basket in the lane and then added two free-throws. Josiah Sims added a driving score. Holyoke took a time-out at 2:56 hoping to curb the momentum. The Indians continued to roll. Jesse Baxter added a baseline jumper, Krien scored in the lane, and Colton Neitzel found Dinkel with an assist on a cut through the lane. St. Francis led 14-6 after one period of action.
Ethan Johnson drained a left-wing trey early in the second period moving the Dragons within five points. Jesse Baxter answered with a nice reverse lay-up from the baseline. A steal by Brady Dinkel led to an offensive rebound score by Josiah Sims moments later. Ben Busse's assist set up a high-post jumper by Baxter. Holyoke used another time-out at 3:18, trailing 20-9. In the closing minutes of the second period, Baxter added another jumper from the high post and Holyoke's Kaison Kinnie (6' 0" So.) drained a top-of-the-key trey. St. Francis led at halftime 22-12.
The scoring pace of the game was about to increase. Colton Neitzel scored in the lane on an assist from Brady Dinkel. Adam Krien added a quick steal-two. Josiah Sims followed with a left-wing trey giving the Indians a 29-12 advantage. Neitzel sandwiched a strong baseline drive between a turnover-two score by Slaten Burris (5' 8" Sr.) and a left-wing trey by Ethan Johnson. With the addition of an offensive rebound score by Kaison Kinnie, the Dragons had trimmed the margin to twelve (31-19). A left-wing deuce by Jesse Baxter was answered by a trey by Burris. Dinkel added two free-throws, but Miles Sprague (6' 0" So.) responded from the post. When Sprague drained a left-wing trey for the Dragons, the Indians' advantage was reduced to eight (35-27). The Dragons were continuing to battle. Dinkel added a free-throw and a driving score late in the quarter to give the Indians a 38-27 lead after three quarters.
The pace continued to be brisk. Adam Krien's top-of-the-key trey was followed by a steal-two by Brady Dinkel. With 7:23 left in the final period. Holyoke called time-out to make adjustments. After returning to the floor the Dragons received a top-of-the-key trey from Miles Sprague and two free-throws from Aaron Sierra (5' 10" Jr.). Krien then earned a steal resulting in an assist to Josiah Sims. Sprague's driving score preceded a free-throw by Caleb Deaver and a baseline drive by Jesse Baxter. After a left-wing trey by Deaver and a turnover-two by Sprague, the Indians called time-out at 2:52. The Dragons had moved within 7 with the latest flurry, and the Indians needed to make something positive happen. After the time-out, Burris earned a quick steal-two trimming the margin to 47-42. The outcome of the game seemed to be undecided. Krien responded with basket for the Indians and soon made an assist on a right baseline jumper by Baxter. Josiah Sims earned a slick steal-two moving the spread to 53-42. Dinkel then scored on a lay-up which was followed by technical foul on Holyoke's Sprague at 1:42. Though Dinkel only made one of the three free-throws and Holyoke drew a charge on Dinkel's drive on the ensuing possession, the Dragons did not score during the exchange. With about a minute left, Dinkel added a transition lay-up. Sims followed with a pair of free-throws and then both teams emptied their benches to allow others some game time. Ran Daikoku (5' 8" Jr.) scored a pair of free-throws for the Dragons to complete the contest. St. Francis defeated Holyoke 60-44 in a competitive game.
Brady Dinkel led all scorers with 18 points. Jesse Baxter added 14 and Josiah Sims 13 to the Indians' total. Others scoring for St. Francis included Adam Krien 11, and Colton Neitzel 4. The Indians made 8 of 16 from the line, had only 11 fouls, and committed 10 turnovers.
Holyoke was led in scoring by Miles Sprague with 14 points. Ethan Johnson added 10 and Caleb Deaver 6. The Dragons had 14 fouls and 10 turnovers, and made 5 of 6 from the free-throw line.
The Indians will play next on January 10 in Idalia, Colorado,
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