Local boys cruise into semifinals

SPOKANE VALLEY - With three players scoring in double figures, Lind-Ritzville/Sprague/Harrington/Washtucna defeated Saint George's 54-40 in the District 7 2B quarterfinals at West Valley High School, Monday, Feb. 6, to advance to a semifinal matchup with Davenport.

The Broncos came out of the chute hot. Their quickness and crisp passing kept the Dragons off balance, allowing the duo of Jayce Kelly and Hunter Dinkins to get open from the perimeter to combine for 14 of their team's 17 first quarter points. Hayden Melcher scored the other three points on a long-range jumper.

In the second quarter, Saint George's Shawn Jones took over for the Dragons. His 13 first half points brought Saint George's to within one point at halftime. The Broncos took a 30-29 lead into the locker room.

The Broncos smothered Saint George's with their stingy defense in the second half. Chase Galbreath outscored the Dragons by himself, notching 12 points to the opposition's 11.

The trio of Galbreath, Kelly and Dinkins scored 19, 16 and 14 points respectively. Galbreath also pulled down 10 rebounds and Kelly grabbed nine.

Shawn Jones scored 17 points for Saint George's.

"We lost to them by 17 earlier in the season," Dinkins said. "Tonight, we played fantastic. Our defense was the difference. It's going to help us when we play Davenport on Wednesday."

Broncos Coach Dustan Arlt praised his team's effort after their double-digit loss to Saint George's earlier in the season.

"That was a great win to get us into the semifinals," Arlt said. "I'm proud that we held them to 11 points in the second half. It was a huge win and we're excited to move on."

The Broncos battle top-seeded Davenport in the semifinal matchup at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8 at West Valley High School.