Broncos struggle in league battles, looking for their stride

The weekend was unkind for Lind-Ritzville/Sprague basketball fans as league opponents Davenport and Reardan defeated the Broncos on Friday and Saturday.

During Saturday’s home game against Reardan, the Broncos were sent to the showers after a tough loss, 67-43. Friday night a road trip to Davenport didn’t end much better as the Gorillas took a 64-50 win.

The bright spot last week was a non-league win over Odessa-Harrington on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 74-58.

“After Odessa-Harrington I was pretty encouraged,” head coach Dustan Arlt said. “Our man defense looked good. We attacked the basket and passed. We had as good a team work as we have probably had. It gave me encouragement going into the weekend.”

Then the wheels came off.

“This weekend we shot poorly and blocked out real poorly,” Arlt said.

Against Reardan the Broncos were 11 of 54 from the field and sank just one of 22 three point attempts. To compound matters the team gave up 22 turnovers.

Dylan and Drew Hartz led the team scoring with eight points a piece. Colby Starring, Jesse Miller and Connor O’Neill each scored five points. Bryson O’Neill, Jake Dewald and Tyler Frederick each scored four.

Miller finished with seven rebounds. Dylan Hartz, Chris Steinmetz and Frederick each had six rebounds.

Against Davenport, Dylan Hartz delivered 12 points. Starring and Drew Hartz each had nine. Miller finished with eight and Jake Dewald had 6.

Against the Gorillas, the Broncos gave up 17 offensive rebounds contributing to their own demise.

“Their best offense was second chance put backs,”Arlt said.

The team hit 20 of 55 from the field.

Dylan Hartz finished with eight assists and four steals. Connor O’Neill had three assists and two steals.

During the Odessa-Harrington game Dylan Hartz scored 22, grabbed nine rebounds and had nine assists. Drew Hartz finished with 18 points and was 7 for 7 from the field and four for four from the free throw line.

Miller provided 11 points and nine rebounds. Steinmetz had seven rebounds while Connor O’Neill contributed five assists.

“We haven’t quite hit our stride,” Arlt said. “We have got to find kids who are going to step up. We have been shooting a ton, we just have to keep shooting and shooting in practice. We are very offensive motivated team and how some of our kids do offensively affects our demeanor.”

Tuesday the Broncos fell to Northwest Christian, 62-44. Individual player statistics weren’t available at press time.