Lady Broncos’ season ends at Regional Tournament

The Lady Broncos finished their season over the weekend with a 19-9 record in regular play and a 10-4 record for league play.

Head Coach Gary Kelly said he was very pleased to see how his team grew over the season.

“We were obviously disappointed to be so close to the State Tournament but the thing I keep coming back to is what a great season we have had. We had a huge amount of wins and a huge amount of success.”

Their final game was in the Regional Tournament versus St. George’s on Saturday, Feb. 27, at Mt. Spokane High School.

Kelly explained even making it to Regionals was a success as it says the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos are one of the top 16 teams in the state.

The Regional match up began with the Lady Broncos taking a slight lead early in the game with a score of 15-12 after the first quarter.

The next two quarters held a very low scoring game, which attested to the tough defense both teams were providing.

In those quarters combined the Lady Broncos, made just six points compared to the Lady Dragons seven.

The Lady Broncos defense was able to hold St. George’s leading scorer Hailey Higashi to just six points in the first quarter and a total of 11 for the entire game.

Higashi averages 19 points a game and prior to the start of Regionals had banked 458 points in the season.

Heading into the fourth quarter the Lady Broncos led 21-19.

St. George’s fought to earn the lead for the first time since the beginning of the first quarter and succeeded with 4:05 left on the clock.

Natalie Farias, a senior for St. George’s, was able to put up nine of the team’s 13 points in the fourth quarter alone to help her team pull ahead.

The Lady Broncos were unable to put up counter shots to recapture the lead and the game ended with St. George’s advancing with a score of 29-32.

Tessa Jantz was able to put up 12 points through the St. George’s defense, while also pulling down 10 rebounds.

Madison Harder fought the entire time to successfully contain Higashi and also added four points and eight rebounds to the team’s totals.

Peyton Curtis had 11 points and was able to pull down six rebounds and had three assists. Tommi Swannack rounded out the Lady Broncos scoring with two points.

The St. George’s defense double and even triple teamed Jantz and Curtis each time they got the ball in their possession. Even with this obstacle these two were still able to put up their average amount of points.

The lack of offense for the team became their downfall in this game. Kelly stated he knew their biggest challenge in this match would be offensive firepower.

He noted shooting and driving to the basket are two items the team has struggled with throughout the season.

The Lady Broncos were successful from the free throw line with Curtis making five of five and Jantz making two of two.

Even with a tough ending to the season Kelly is proud of the team’s accomplishments, “We were able to accomplish every goal we set out to accomplish and the girls came together unbelievably on and off the court in the last few weeks.”

He is already thinking about summer camp for next season’s team. Kelly has plans to bring in a few outside people to help get the team on the right track and focus on shooting and ball handling.

“We are on the verge of being an elite team. We were only two possessions away from the State Tournament this year,” Kelly stated, while reflecting on the future of the girls basketball program.

This season served as a great foundation, and Kelly is ready to have the ball in his court and do everything he can to ensure the team has all the tools they need to set the goal of making it to state next year and then go out and accomplish it.