Lady Broncos secure third victory of the season

The Lady Broncos played the Freeman Lady Scotties in a nonleague game on Tuesday, Dec. 22, where they were able to earn the third victory of their season.

The game was hard fought with an ending score of 44-42, the Lady Broncos winning by just two points.

Head Coach Gary Kelly stated, “It was pretty ugly but a win is a win and the game went as we expected.”

He went on to say the team is still recovering from multiple sicknesses and he was happy they beat a school like Freeman while being out of condition.

Kelly said he felt the team was in control during the first three and a half quarters and changed the team’s rotation. He played the team closer in the first half to show the players what they can do and to highlight the items each player needs to work on.

At halftime the Lady Broncos led 20-18. The team allowed a lot of shots from the Lady Scotties but the post players were there to rebound any missed shots.

Madison Harder had seven rebounds and Tessa Jantz had 14, the team had a total of 39 rebounds during the entire game.

While Kelly sees improvements in their defensive game he acknowledges there are still gains to be made in that department.

Kelly noted Madison Harder has come a long way in discovering where she needs to be on the court. He said he is looking to her to work on her lay-ins and finishing her shots for their next league game.

Peyton Curtis who is usually a key player offensively was absent during this game and Felicia Ziemer was still recovering from being sick.

“We learned to rely on other players with key leaders not on the court,” Kelly said. “Jantz had 18 points and really shouldered the load with Peyton being gone.”

He continued by adding Jantz had a terrific game. While she did not have her strongest shooting game of the season, she played through the frustration to lead the team.

“She did a great job and saw that you don’t need to be having the best game ever to carry your team,” Kelly said.

Ziemer also learned to work through a lack of stamina and went three for six from the three-point line and added a total 11 points for the Lady Broncos.

Tommi Swannack had five points; Rachel Schell and Madison Harder each added four, followed by Tessa O’Brien with two.

The team also had 13 fouls against them and gave 11 turnovers to the Lady Scotties.

Kelly used this game to work on the team’s defense. They have been working on their man defense in practice and took the opportunity to run the play.

“We’ve got everything there, we just need to sharpen and work on the details,” Kelly stated.

He has a lot of confidence in the team and knows they will figure it out.

In the fourth quarter Kelly had his team run different plays. At this point the game was close and he could see his team showing nerves.

“The plays weren’t well executed and this allowed open lanes for Freeman to take advantage of,” Kelly explained.

The team took a hit this last week with the announcement that Kallie Harder will be out the remainder of the season for a shoulder surgery on an existing injury.

“The team is really going to miss her on the court but we look forward to her support from the bench and her participation in camp next summer,” Kelly said.

With this loss he knows there is less depth on the Lady Broncos bench but he believes this will pay dividends in the coming years by allowing the younger varsity players to see more playing time.

This game, along with a game Tuesday, Dec. 29, versus the Odessa-Harrington Lady Titans at home, will allow the team to fight for additional victories to boost their confidence before they head into their next league matches.

The Lady Broncos face Tekoa-Rosalia for the second time on Wednesday, Dec. 30, in Rosalia with tip-off at 6 p.m.

After this game they have a second league match up on the road against Liberty on Saturday, Jan. 2, before returning home to Gilson Gym on Tuesday, Jan 5.