Basketball Recap: St. Francis Indian Falls Short Against Ranked Pine Ridge

On Thursday, St. Francis Indian faced Pine Ridge in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The St. Francis Indian Warriors had to suffer through a 94-64 loss at the hands of the Pine Ridge Thorpes. The loss continues a trend for the Warriors in their matchups with the Thorpes: they've now lost four in a row.

Defeat or not, St. Francis Indian got some senior leadership from John Gunhammer and Mackenzie Wike. Gunhammer went 7 for 9 on his way to 18 points, while Wike went 5 of 8 en route to 14 points. That's the most points Gunhammer has posted since back in December of 2023. The team also got some help courtesy of Jordan Larvie, who posted six points.

Marvin Richard Lll continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for Pine Ridge, going 19 of 27 on his way to 57 points along with six steals and five boards. The contest was Richard Lll's fifth in a row with at least ten points. Anthony Steele was another key player, almost dropping a double-double on 23 points and nine assists.

St. Francis Indian now has a losing record at 1-2. As for Pine Ridge, they now have a winning record of 3-2.

St. Francis Indian wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next game, a 70-68 win against Wall on the 20th. As for Pine Ridge, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next match, a 49-36 victory against Custer on the 20th.