LRS basketball successful in summer league play

The LRS Broncos boys’ basketball team wrapped up their summer basketball schedule in mid-July. It was a very successful summer for the boys’ team. Because of the great commitment from the kids this summer, the team will greatly benefit from this in the upcoming season.

This summer helped the athletes become excited about the upcoming season and gain confidence. The LRS team had a lot of wins over good, competitive teams this summer.

The team is ready to make that leap and hopefully start making runs at the state tournament. The league remains tough, but the athletes have a lot of the qualities needed to be able to compete with anyone in the 2B classification. Many of the athletes have really improved and have developed great team chemistry.

During summer league play, the LRS team received a lot of compliments from other coaches and camp directors.

The varsity team played 31 games and the junior varsity team competed in another 22 games this summer. The varsity team won 27 of those 31 games.

During summer league games, it is common for one of the competing teams to be shorthanded with athletes or be missing a key player for some of the games. The success of the LRS team, even when in those situations, displays the potential of the team.

On a couple of the days, the team played five games one day and four games the next. A normal summer day at a camp or tournament is three games per day.

It is not all about wins and losses in the summer, but being that successful shows the team is doing some things right and should be a tough team to beat this season.

The summer basketball season began with a three-day Bronco Camp on May 29-31. Twenty-nine athletes attended the camp, the highest number of participants to ever be present at Bronco Camp.

The varsity team concluded the week by playing three games at St. Georges’ on Friday, June 1, winning by double digits against Liberty and Newport, but losing by one point in sudden death against St. Georges.

The game did not go into overtime, but St. Georges made a free throw during the sudden death round to win the game. While neither team played their best since it was the third game in a row, there should be good competitions between the two teams in the next couple of years.

The varsity team consisted of Dylan Hartz, Connor O’Neill, Colby Starring, Tyler Frederick, Ryan Whitmore, Kyle Canaday, Jacob Anderson, Bridger Smith, Jarradd Morley and Cort Ruzicka.

On June 21-24, the varsity and JV teams attended BNB Camp at Soap Lake High School. The LRS team has been attended BNB Camp for a number of years and the athletes stay in classrooms and play a lot of basketball.

About 20 varsity teams and 12 JV teams attended the camp, and most teams are from smaller schools in the A and B classifications. The LRS varsity team went 10-0 and was named the “unofficial camp champs,” as the team was the only team to go undefeated.

Three of the wins were against teams who had placed at the 2B level in the state competition last year. The wins helped the team gain confidence and show the potential for the upcoming season.

O’Neill was recognized as the most improved player for the team and the combination of him and Hartz will prove tough for teams to stop. Many of the athletes have improved over the summer, but O’Neill has made huge strides since last season.

Whitmore is another athlete who has greatly improved and was a defensive force at the BNB Camp. Starring and Canaday shot well, providing the team with good shooters that will combine with the strength of the guards and posts.

The LRS team had wins over North Beach, Rochester, Wahkiakum, Wishkah Valley, Adna, LaConner, Napavine, Naselle, Brewster, and Lebanon, Ore, during the BNB Camp.

The Adna game proved to be the most exciting match up during the camp as both teams played well. Starring hit a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer to give the Broncos their two-point win.

The JV team also proved successful, ending the camp with a record of 11-4, and playing many of the same teams as the LRS varsity.

JV participants at this camp were Cort Ruzicka, Matt Leffel, Tyler O’Brien, Logan Morley, Trevor Jantz, Bryden Laird, Jacob Saetre, Bryson Gering, Alan Field, Wyatt Roettger, Brian Campbell, Travis Ste. Marie, Dylan Becker and Roberto Valdovinos.

Ruzicka played with the JV team this camp and with the varsity team during other summer league competitions. He is another athlete who has shown great improvement and played well all summer.

The varsity team played at the Camp Classic Tournament from July 5-7 at the Hub Sports Center in Liberty Lake. Around 30 teams attended the camp, many of those being larger schools, and creating the opportunity for the LRS team to play a lot of games during the weekend.

Each team played four Round Robin games before being placed into one of the four tournament brackets. The Broncos placed second in the bracket, even though the team was short a few athletes for the weekend.

The team ended up with an 8-3 record, losing to Lake City High School, Idaho, and the Malta, Mont., team twice. The Broncos made it to the championship game of the bracket but lost to Malta.

The LRS team beat LaGrande, Ore. twice; Clearwater Valley, Idaho; Potlach, Idaho; CDA charter academy; Sitka, Alaska; Genesse, Idaho; and Medical Lake.

Participants were Hartz, O’Neill, Starring, Canaday, Whitmore, Anderson, Morley, Ruzicka and Saetre.

The last team camp took place at Eastern Washington University (EWU) on July 13-15. This was the first time the LRS team had attended the EWU camp and it proved to be successful.

Two teams and 22 players went to the camp with the varsity winning all seven of their games. The success of the team helped the summer basketball experience end strong and on a positive note.

Frederick stepped up and performed well during the EWU camp. Teams that the LRS team beat were Rosalia, Granger, Deer Park, Colville, Lewis & Clark JV/Varsity, Lakeside, and Sherwood Park, Alberta.

The JV team went 3-4 at this camp and had a lot of teams to play, including some larger schools. The JV team beat Granger, Deer Park, and Royal JV teams.

The LRS JV lost to Lakeside, Marysville, and Gonzaga Prep JV teams, twice. JV participants were Leffel, Morley, Jantz, O’Brien, Saetre, Field, Campbell, Dallas Killian, Skyler Oestreich, Becker, Ste. Marie and Laird.