Lady Broncos defeat top league competitors

The Lady Broncos are halfway through their season and currently hold a 6-2 league record. This ranks them second in the Northeast 2B South league behind St. George’s which is one of their two losses from the beginning of the season.

Last week the Reardan Lady Indians handed St. George’s their first league loss. The Lady Broncos host Reardan this Saturday in Gilson Gym.

In the beginning of the week the Lady Broncos faced the Northwest Christian Lady Crusaders at home where they were victorious with a final score of 56-46.

Head Coach Gary Kelly said the biggest challenge in this game was containing NWC’s Rachel Bozlee.

He continued to say their goal was to do everything they could to control her. Madison Harder was given the task of guarding her and Kelly said Harder did a great job.

Tessa Jantz led the team with 11 rebounds followed by Harder with eight.

Peyton Curtis and Jantz each put up 16 points for the team followed by Tommi Swannack with 13. Felicia Ziemer added six points; Lacey Miller added three and Harder had two.

Kelly said, “We gained a lot of confidence from this game. It showed the girls they had what it takes to win tough match ups.”

Kelly said he is impressed with the team, “Anytime I talk to these girls about needing to do something they turn around and do it.”

Northwest Christian is the number two team in the Northeast 2B North division, the Lady Broncos defeated them and then it was time to take on the number one team, Davenport.

The Lady Broncos took this game in stride and defeated the Lady Gorillas 45-38.

“This was a statement game for us. Everyone realizes now that we have knocked off these teams that we are a team to be reckoned with, which is exactly what we wanted,” Kelly stated.

Prior to the game Kelly spoke with the team and set a goal of lowering their turnovers from their current average of 17-20 a game to 10-12. This is exactly what the Lady Broncos did, they ended this game with 11 turnovers.

The free throw line was key to the game for the Lady Broncos. As a team they went 13 for 13, Curtis hit four of four, Swannack hit six of six and Jantz hit three of three.

“I haven’t ever seen something like that before especially in an intense game like this was. It just reiterated how mentally strong this team is,” Kelly explained.

Curtis was the focus of the Davenport defense and only went one for nine from the field and because of this she made the effort to get five assists to her teammates. Harder brought down seven rebounds and Swannack had 10.

In the third quarter Miller came in and put up three 3-pointers for the team, hitting two.

Swannack led the team in scoring with 16 points. She was followed by Jantz with 11, Curtis with 10, Miller with six and Holly Nygren with two.

The next day the Lady Broncos faced a third top team in the league while on the road, the Kettle Falls Lady Bulldogs.

“I was worried about a let down of a game since we were so focused on beating Davenport all week and then we had to sit on a long bus ride but that wasn’t the case. We played our game from the tip,” Kelly stated.

The Lady Broncos held the lead the entire game and ended their tough week with a third win of 59-36.

Harder had a huge game on Saturday. She added 11 points for the team, had nine rebounds and held their lead scorer to just four points. She went five for six from the field and one for one from the free throw line.

“She has been working so hard this season and I have been asking her to guard the opponent’s best players. She has a lot of big plays defensively and is averaging 7-8 rebounds a game,” Kelly detailed.

Seven of the Lady Broncos scored in the Kettle Falls game: Curtis had 16, Swannack added 15, Harder put up 11, Jantz added seven, Nygren made five, Ziemer added four and Tessa O’Brien had one.

Swannack pulled 10 rebounds from the board and Jantz had nine.

Kelly knows all of the roster chipping into the game will be the difference maker in the second half of the season.

The Lady Broncos defense is among the best in the league when looking at points given up per game. They are able to hold teams to single digits in multiple quarters.

“They are working hard and mentally they are beating the other teams defensively. They out think the team and get into the passing and driving lanes,” Kelly explained.

This week allows the team to have a few days off from games and with this they will have three days of consistent practice which they haven’t had since before the holiday break.

While they beat the top three teams in the northern tier of their league this week Kelly is keeping the team leveled.

“Our next two teams might be lower in the standings but that doesn’t mean they don’t have the capabilities to beat us,” Kelly said.

The Lady Broncos take on Springdale in Springdale Friday, Jan. 15, at 6 p.m. They then face Reardan in a league match at home Jan. 16 with tip-off at 7:30 p.m.