Broncos: 5th at 2B state!

LRS gives St. George’s fits in classic semifinal duel

Several times this season, the Broncos have found themselves in challenging situations. They had a short rough patch where they lost league games they probably should have claimed. They found themselves in overtime contests at the district, sub-regional and regional tournaments.

In both the district and sub-regional tournaments they hung on in loser-out games to advance to the next round, the state tournament, as one of the top eight teams among 2B schools.

Saturday they finished their run with a fifth place trophy in the WIAA 2B Hardwood Classic after falling to the Wahkiakum Mules, 62-54.

There was clearly some disappointment in the faces of the players during the trophy presentation on Saturday. The Broncos had worked hard throughout the season, were physically exhausted and would have preferred to end the year on a winning note with a third place trophy.

Monday, with just a bit of rest, head coach Dustan Arlt was optimistic and pleased with the team’s accomplishments during his first time on the arena floor as a head coach.

“At the start of the season our goal was to make state,” he said. “After seeing how dominant St. George’s was, in the end we really went far. We were maybe a couple of bounces, a couple of rebounds away from going to the state championship game. If we could have beat St. George’s it really could have been a magical season.

“This will only help us, this experience,” he added. “We have a ton of guys back and I have to think we are going to be right there again next year.”

The team’s overall state effort was far more impressive than their final game on Saturday when you consider the huge scare they delivered to the eventual state champions, the St. George’s Dragons, during the semifinal battle. The Dragons would win the game, 55-52, inside the final minute on Friday in Spokane Arena, but the relentless Broncos turned in one of their best efforts of the season.

Prior to that game, the Broncos had never held a lead over St. George’s in three previous meetings. During the state semifinals the Broncos had the lead five times. Prior to that contest, the Dragons had overpowered the Broncos. In early January they defeated the Broncos, 64-41, then later in the same month posted a 59-41 win. In the sub-regional semifinals they defeated Lind-Ritzville/Sprague 57-43.

“Had one or two more things aligned against St. George’s we had our chances,” Arlt said. “Just to be in that situation with a bunch of underclassman was pretty impressive. It was a great semifinal game.”

Round One, Northwest Christian

The WIAA’s 2B Hardwood Classic was a virtual who’s who of the Northeast 2B League. Four of the eight teams were from the league, one that is often considered one of the strongest in the state. St. George’s, Colfax and Northwest Christian joined the Broncos in the championship tournament.

As luck would have it, the Broncos found themselves paired with the NWC Crusaders in the first round of the state tournament bracket. It would serve as the fifth meeting between the two teams. The Broncos held a 3-1 advantage going into the contest. They would have to battle but came out ahead with a 49-46 win.

In the opening minutes of the game both teams put up single digits, but the Broncos carried a three-point edge into the second quarter, 9-6. At the end of the first half they were up 27-22. The Crusaders kept things interesting and took the third quarter advantage with a 13-11 effort. Both teams would score just 11 points in the fourth quarter.

Point guard Dylan Hartz would shine in this outing, scoring 18 points to pace the Broncos. He would contribute eight rebounds and three assists in the game.

Tyler Frederick and Connor O’Neill each scored nine points. O’Neill collected four rebounds and provided two assists.

Cort Ruzicka kicked in seven points and six rebounds.

Ryan Whitmore scored six, grabbed three rebounds and blocked three shots.

For the game, the Broncos were able to out-shoot the Crusaders, sinking 37 percent of their field goals while NWC made just 29.4 percent.

Defensively the Broncos were stingy, allowing just one NWC player to score in double figures when Austin Friedly managed 11 points.

The game saw 12 lead changes and eight ties, as both teams were attempting to match each other’s efforts most of the game. The Broncos had the largest lead in the second quarter with a five-point advantage, 22-17.

Semifinals, St. George’s

The Broncos and the Dragons were in a virtual horse race in the first quarter. Both teams were trading baskets and kept the tempo of the game high. When the first period was over the Dragons held a narrow one-point lead, 22-21.

The second quarter was the only time the Broncos truly faltered. St. George’s gained a halftime lead, 37-28, when they outscored the Broncos 15-7 in the second quarter.

They would come out gunning again in the third quarter before the Broncos were able to halt what had been a 14-2 run by the Dragons over two periods.

“In the first quarter we played great,” Arlt said. “We tried some things. We thought we would open things up and spread it out a little bit to pull their big guy away. That seemed to work and right away it gave our kids some confidence.”

After a shaky second quarter on defense, the Broncos turned things around in the second half and frustrated the Dragons at times.

“Our defense was much better and we played a little tougher,” Arlt said of the second half. “And we got Colby (Starring) going. If he doesn’t make some of the key shots that he did we were really going to be down.”

Starring led the team scoring with 14 points, hitting four of 10 three-point attempts and sinking a pair of key free throws in the fourth quarter.

Whitmore also turned in a big game at the post position with 11 points, six rebounds and one blocked shot against the Dragon’s big man, Dexter Sienko.

Frederick provided 10 points and three rebounds.

O’Neill and Hartz each scored eight points, and collected three rebounds apiece. O’Neill offered up seven assists and Hartz contributed four.

Kyle Canaday scored one point from the free throw line and grabbed three rebounds, including a last second grab as time was running out that gave the Broncos one last chance at a three-point bucket to tie the game.

“They have two of the top three players in the state, and even their role players can all shoot the ball,” Arlt said of the Dragons.

Sienko had 20 points in the game from under the net while Erik Muelheims led the Dragons with 21 points and was two for three from three-point land.

Fouls in the second quarter weren’t friendly to the Broncos. Whitmore collected his second foul on a questionable call and Ruzicka quickly got whistled for a pair of fouls, making it a bit challenging to pressure from underneath later in the game.

There was no shortage of excitement in the second half. The Broncos actually outscored the Dragons 11-9 in the third quarter and 13-9 in the fourth quarter. For the game, there were 11 lead changes and six ties.

With 4:57 remaining in the fourth quarter the Broncos found themselves trailing, 46-45.

Hartz changed that with a breakaway lay-in with 4:34 remaining as LRS went up, 47-46.

St. George’s swung the tempo back in their favor, until Starring sank a three at 3:25 to tie the game, 50-50.

Starring would make his presence known again with 2:57 to play in the game when he sank back-to-back free throws to give the Broncos a 52-50 lead.

St. George’s went back on top, 53-52, when Corey Spalding was allowed to drain a deep three-point shot from the right wing, with 1:50 left to play.

The Dragons collected their final two points of the game when Muelheims sank two free throws with 15.6 left in the game.

In the final clicks of the clock, the Broncos got a lot done, but came up just short on a pair of three-point shot attempts.

“We got two decent looks and Kyle got a great rebound to get it back out to Colby for a deep three attempt,” Arlt said of his team’s valiant last ditch effort.

Despite the loss, the Broncos came out with valuable experience and the knowledge that they can run with the Dragons, and perhaps, eventually slay them.

St. George’s would go on to defeat a rival Northeast 2B team in the title game, sinking Colfax, 50-28.

Round three, Wahkiakum

The third day of the state tournament highlighted the fatigue the Broncos were feeling. By the second quarter, they were gassed and their legs were starting to go out from under them. In the second half, the team committed uncharacteristic turnovers.

They were down by 10 or more much of the second half, but continued to battle, eventually pulling within eight when time ran out. The Mules would claim third place with a 62-54 win.

“After being that close to making it into the state championship game, it was tough,” Arlt said. “Physically we were tired. I knew they had a couple of players that would be tough for us to match up with and not enough of our guys were playing well.

“We still fought and played hard and made them sweat,” he said. “There just wasn’t enough in the tank to overcome them.”

Wahkiakum was hot-handed and sank 43.1 percent of its field goal attempts while the Broncos hit 18 of 51 attempts, or 35.3 percent.

The Broncos opened the game with a lead at the end of the first quarter, 11-9. The Mules then took over in the second quarter with a 23-14 effort to carry a 32-25 lead into the intermission.

Wahkiakum was potent from the perimeter, soaking the net with 3-pointers. They hit 10 of 22 attempts, 45.5 percent of their three-point efforts. The Broncos were nine of 28 from three-point land.

Hartz led the team scoring in LRS’ final game of the season, scoring 14 points, grabbing three rebounds and providing four assists.

Frederick followed with 12 points, and was impressive from the free throw line, converting six of seven attempts.

Starring scored nine points in the game sinking three of his 12 attempts from behind the three-point arch. He had two rebounds and one assist.

Whitmore scored six points, had six rebounds and one blocked shot.

Bridger Smith scored six points, hitting both of his three-point attempts during the game. He also grabbed two rebounds and provided an assist.

O’Neill finished with five points, five rebounds and three assists.

Ruzicka scored two points and had four rebounds.

Next season

The Broncos lose two seniors this year, Starring and Jacob Anderson. They have a truckload of juniors and a couple sophomores who will return next year to establish what should be a solid contender in league and likely the postseason.