Well done, Broncos

I once again got to see a lot of basketball in Spokane last week. It was great to see the Broncos playing in the arena.

I attend the tournament anyway but it sure is good to see the red and black on the court. The young band sounded good, the fans did a great job representing the three communities and the cheerleaders were fantastic. And then there was the team.

I’m sure many of us were wondering what kind of team this year’s group was going to be. There were a lot of seniors but overall experience at the varsity level wasn’t a lot.

But there are teams that come together at the right time and like the Energizer Bunny they just can’t be stopped.

I think that most fans will look at the first game of the tournament against Life Christian Academy as the game of the season. Yes it was a great game, but I look back at the final league game against Liberty as being the motivator to get to state in the first place. Liberty had been on a roll and looked like a lock to play in March at the arena.

But the Broncos saved their best defensive game of the season for Liberty and frustrated the Lancers turning back the state’s runner-up team from a year ago. That victory was an important one when they played a couple of weeks later.

When it comes to the playoffs anything can happen. The most important thing is to win the first game. Just ask the Colfax boys as they were knocked out in two in the district tournament.

The playoffs get a little bit confusing and I really can’t tell you how it is set up and I guess it really doesn’t matter. The most important thing is to win.

The Broncos knocked out Springdale and then they would meet Liberty again. Winner plays for seeding and the loser goes home.

This is where the confident Broncos would take out the Lancers and end their great season by 21. Liberty finished the year 21-4 with two of those losses coming at the hands of LRS.

The next game was against Asotin. This game was huge because the loser of this game would need to play in a loser-out game. That winner would then get to play Northwest Christian in the first round of the state tournament winner play on and loser go home.

The Broncos would prevail in two overtimes. In order to play in the arena in March this game became a must win situation.

The Broncos would play DeSales for third and fourth in the region and the Broncos would take care of business and come in as the third seed from District 7/9. They would then take on Warden. The Broncos eliminated the Cougars at Mt. Spokane 52-48 in a hard fought and very exciting game.

At the arena last Thursday, the Broncos played Life Christian and would defeat one of the top three teams in the State Tournament. The tall and talented Eagles had a big rally in the fourth quarter but the Broncos would make enough free throws to get into the semifinal.

Unfortunately, the Broncos may have run out of energy and luck against Mossyrock. The Broncos had trouble hitting shots that they made the night before and would play for the third and fifth on Saturday. Against the Brewster Bears, one of the favorites to win it all, the shots once again clanged off the rim and into the waiting arms of the Bears’ big men.

LRS settled for fifth place at the State Tournament. There were times that few fans would have thought this team would still be playing last week. Coach Arlt did a great job preparing these kids to believe they had a good chance to play in the State Tournament.

Many of us had our doubts that this team would be playing in the arena in March let alone in the semifinals. But they did and the three communities are very proud of this group as it exceeded expectations.

A little over 10 years ago I had a right knee replacement. Several years before that important surgery, I had given up reffing peewee basketball because it was a bit painful to run on. About a year and half after the surgery I started reffing the little kids again.

One of the first teams I reffed was this group of seniors: Jacob Saetre, Alan Field, Bryson Gering, Dallas Killian and Ryan Frederick. I think back on this group and wondered if they would have what it takes to play at the state tournament and I guess they did.

Well done! All the hard work was certainly worth it.