Lady Broncos compete for berth in State Tournament

On Friday, Feb. 12, the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos prepared to take on the Reardan Lady Indians for the third and fourth place seeds into the Sub-Regional Tournament.

The Lady Broncos took control of the game early over the Lady Indians and after the first quarter held a 17-12 lead.

The second quarter was completely dominated by the Lady Broncos, who scored an additional 21 points and held the Lady Indians to just seven points before halftime. The Lady Broncos opened the third quarter with a 38-19 lead.

In the third quarter LRS had a difficult time regaining the pace they had set in the first half. After a few minutes of play they began to regain their composure and only allowed the Lady Indians to reduce the LRS lead by two points.

The Lady Broncos held off the Lady Indians in the fourth quarter to finish the game with a score of 63-48 and took the third place seed into the Sub-Regional Tournament.

Tessa Jantz led the Lady Broncos in scoring with 22 points during the contest. She scored 14 of her points in the first quarter and 18 points by halftime.

“Early on they didn’t have and answer for her and she was playing at a high level,” Lady Broncos’ Head Coach John Galbreath said.

Mallory Kessler also had a strong night with 13 points for the Lady Broncos. Rounding out the top four scorers for LRS were Jenna Bennett and Tommi Swannack, each with 11 points against Reardan.

The Lady Broncos faced the number one seed, the Colfax Lady Bulldogs on Monday in the first round of the Sub-Regional Tournament.

After the first quarter LRS held the lead 14-13 and, after a low scoring second quarter, maintained the lead 21-18 at the half.

“We had, really, a pretty good first quarter and a good first half,” Galbreath said.

In the third quarter Colfax were able to gain an advantage and at the start of the fourth quarter held the lead 29-27 over the Lady Broncos.

The Lady Bulldogs solidified their win in the fourth quarter, scoring 21 points to the Lady Broncos’ 12 for a final game score of 50-39.

“They made good adjustments and were able to actually make some shots in the second half that they weren’t making in the first,” Galbreath explained.

“So credit to Colfax on that.”

Bennett led the scoring on Monday evening against the Lady Bulldogs with 11 points.

Jantz added nine points to the Lady Broncos’ total, with Kessler, Swannack and Peyton Curtis each adding another five.

With the loss on Monday the Lady Broncos will face the Lady Indians again on Friday, Feb. 20.

In order to compete for third or fourth place they must defeat Reardan again.

Galbreath said a second win against Reardan is very possible for his team.

“I think I was most pleased with the victory against Reardan last week because it was on Reardan’s home floor,” he explained.

On a neutral floor, Galbreath said the Lady Indians did not look as comfortable as they had playing on a their home court. He did expect it to be a hard fought game between both teams.

“It is an elimination game so I expect their best effort and I expect our girls to give their best too,” he said.

The game is scheduled to take place at Whitman College at 345 Boyer Avenue in Walla Walla.

Tip-off for the Lady Broncos’ game is set for 6 p.m.

The victor will compete against the winner of the St. George’s and Northwest Christian game for the third and fourth place seed into the State Tournament.