Lady Broncos prepare for tournament play

Last week the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos concluded regular season play against three league rivals.

They started on Tuesday, Jan. 27, against the Tekoa-Rosalia Lady Timberwolves. The Lady Broncos started the game strong and took control over their adversary despite head coach John Galbreath’s worries that the Lady Timberwolves might rally for their senior night game.

“We got off to a good start and then we never really looked back,” Galbreath explained

By the end of the first quarter the Lady Broncos held a commanding lead over the Lady Timberwolves of 19-9.

The Lady Broncos continued to dominate the scoring in the first half with a 32-16 lead at the half.

The second half was a similar story, with the Lady Broncos outscoring their opponents 11-9 in the third quarter and 13-4 in the fourth for the final score of 56-29.

Peyton Curtis capped the Lady Broncos’ scoring efforts with 15 points for the evening, nine of them from the free throw line.

Other top scorers for the Lady Broncos included Tommi Swannack and Tessa Jantz with nine points each, and Jenna Bennett with eight.

“It was again pretty balanced scoring and balanced attack,” Galbreath said.

On Friday the Lady Broncos returned home for their final home game of the regular season where they honored seniors Mallory Kessler and Bennett before taking on the Colfax Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Bulldogs have yet to be defeated by an opponent from their league this year.

The first quarter was strongly in the favor of the Lady Bulldogs, but in the second quarter the Lady Broncos began to fight back. At the half they were down 22-17.

The third quarter was a period of intense competition between both teams. The Lady Broncos took the lead over the Lady Bulldogs a few times and outscored the Lady Bulldogs by three. At the end of the third quarter the Lady Broncos were down by two points.

Colfax won the fourth quarter for a 50-43 victory over the Lady Broncos.

“It was a tough one to lose,” Galbreath said

Scoring for the Lady Broncos again showed a balanced effort. Swannack had 11 points, topping the LRS scoring efforts. Curtis had 10 points while Bennett had nine.

“We took away that we’re one step closer to figuring out Colfax,” Galbreath said.

Galbreath explained his team has a difficult time in recognizing and making adjustments to their opponents on the court and this is a primary focus area for improvement as the team.

On Saturday the Lady Broncos traveled for their final game of the regular season against the St. George’s Lady Dragons. The game started slow with both teams recording single digit scores.

The Lady Dragons were able to capitalize in the second quarter and held onto a four-point lead at the half.

The Lady Broncos chipped away at St. George’s lead in the third and fourth quarters and Jantz tied the game at 39, making two free throws with seven seconds left in the game.

Cece Bergquist of St. George’s then drove the length of the court and was fouled with .1 left on the clock.

She sank one of her free throws to close the game with a St. George’s win, 40-39.

“We didn’t play well, really at all,” Galbreath explained. “We were just out of sorts the entire night and could never really get it going.”

Even when not playing well and in St. George’s, Galbreath said the Lady Broncos kept the game close and fought for the lead.

They also out rebounded the Lady Dragons twofold, pulling in 42 compared to their opponents 21.

Jantz and Bennett led the scoring for the Lady Broncos with 14 and 13 respectively.

This week they enter the District Tournament in Reardan and faced Davenport at 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Win or lose the Lady Broncos will play on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Though the Lady Broncos beat the Lady Gorillas earlier in the regular season, Galbreath said it was a difficult game. Though the Davenport team is young this year they are playing good basketball, according to Galbreath, and the Lady Broncos will need to be able to play hard and remain calm on the court.

“I think at points in the game we want it so bad that we don’t play together and everybody wants to assume the responsibility of trying to win the game,” Galbreath explained.

Though he was nervous about the upcoming tournament, Galbreath said his team was ready.

“We’ll be confident and ready to go, I’ve got no question about that,” Galbreath explained. “That’s probably more me, I get more nervous.”

The Lady Broncos will face either Northwest Christian or Liberty in Saturday’s game at 2:30 p.m. in Reardan.