Lady Broncos hold good standing heading towards playoffs

The Lady Broncos have begun the last few league games of their season and are finishing set to finish with a good record heading into the playoffs.

Their week held two nonleague wins and a tough league loss to the St. George’s Lady Dragons.

Last Tuesday on Jan. 19, the team took to the court to face the Connell Lady Eagles. The game proved to be a close contest, but the Lady Broncos came out on top with a final score of 57-54.

This game held two high scorers for the team. Tessa Jantz put up 22 points and Peyton Curtis added another 19.

Tessa O’Brien and Felicia Ziemer each had five followed by Tommi Swannack with four.

Lacey Miller rounded out the scoring with two points.

The first half left the score close with the Lady Broncos out in front, 27-22.

Head Coach Gary Kelly stated, “It was a competitive game down there. We had control most of the game and it wasn’t back and forth.”

He went on to explain in the fourth quarter, one of Connell’s players was able to sink three 3-pointers to get the game within three.

Jantz not only led the team in scoring but she also pulled down 10 rebounds and blocked multiple shots.

Ziemer additionally had a stand out game.

“She was the shortest one on the court and pulled down eight rebounds despite facing big guards from Connell,” Kelly said.

He added Ziemer also had three assists for the team and proved instrumental to the win.

The Lady Eagles are a 1A school and are currently ranked second in their league.

“They (Connell) are playing really well so it felt good to get a good solid win over them. It really shows where our program is at,” Kelly explained.

Kelly added this game showed what an elite group of girls Lind-Ritzville/Sprague team is, not just in the Northeast 2B South league but also in the region.

The Lady Broncos’ went on the road on Friday, Jan. 22, and faced their next opponent Wilbur-Creston.

This was a big win for the team with a final score of 52-24.

“Our defense really stood out as a team. We never let them get double digits in a quarter,” Kelly stated.

The Lady Broncos held the Lady Wildcats to single digit scoring in every quarter.

This allowed Kelly to rest some of the starters in preparation for the St. George’s game the next night and give more minutes to the bench players.

In the fourth quarter the Lady Broncos bench took on the Wilbur-Creston starters and the LRS team held their opponent to just one point.

Holly Nygren stood out in the game earning six points, shooting 50 percent from the free throw line and pulling down multiple rebounds.

“It really was a great team effort from top to bottom. Every player did a little to contribute to a substantial win for the team,” Kelly stated.

Eight Lady Broncos added points to the team this night. Curtis had 12 followed by Swannack with nine.

Jantz added eight, while Harder scored six. Miller ended the night with five points and Rachel Schell had four.

Ziemer rounded out the Lady Broncos’ scoring with two.

After this win the Lady Broncos faced the St. George’s Lady Dragons in Gilson Gym on Jan. 23. St. George’s handed the team one of their only losses for the season with a score of 40-42.

Since then Kelly has seen growth not only from each individual player but growth as a team.

The Lady Broncos treated the St. George’s match up like a playoof game and the team showed their determination to earn the win. The first quarter showed drive with the Lady Broncos leading 19-9.

The officiating soon began to impact the tone of the game. In the first quarter Kelly questioned the first foul called against Lady Broncos and the official met his question with a technical foul.

While Kelly had to sit for the remainder of the game, the St. George’s coach had freedom to move about until he also received a technical foul in the second quarter.

Multiple fouls against the Lady Broncos allowed St. George’s to get back into the game and caused the match up to be much closer than it might have been.

“The refs didn’t cause us to lose despite their calls. The pressure was high in the fourth quarter and we reverted to old habits,” Kelly said.

In the fourth quarter the Lady Broncos were only able to score three points and went one for six from the free throw line.

The Lady Broncos had a slight advantage, 40-37, when the Lady Dragon’s top scorer sank a three to tie the game.

A converted lay-in gave St. George’s a two-point lead and the Lady Broncos were unable to get a shot off ending the game with a 40-42 league loss.

“We really haven’t had many moments like that all season and if it was going to happen we were glad it happened now,” Kelly explained.

Though the team was disappointed to lose to a team they felt they were better than, according to Kelly, it is not always about the points scored but about learning from the errors and improving mentally.

This loss ended the team’s 11 game winning streak but it showed areas needing improvement before the playoffs being on Feb. 6.

Harder was in charge of controlling St. George’s high scorer and handled her very well, while also performing offensively with seven rebounds and 11 points.

Curtis led the team with 12 points and Jantz added eight followed by Swannack and Ziemer with four each and Miller made a free throw.

Swannack’s offensive game, which usually shows her breaking through the defense for lay-ins, was off this game due to a severe ankle sprain, which happened three games ago.

Heading into the Colfax game on Tuesday, Jan. 26, Kelly had concerns as he thought Swannack playing would be questionable.

“Tommi (Swannack) is a key player. I think she is underestimated sometimes but she is able to get those layups and be a key scorer… With her ankle she is a step slow,” Kelly explained.

Colfax is known to press so the team has been focused on breaking the press for offensive looks at the hoop. In their last match up versus the Lady Bulldogs, the LRS team lost by two-points.

This league game is another the team is focused on ensuring has a different outcome.

“It’s a great experience for us to play down there because they have a huge fan base and a great student section. It will be loud and it will be hard for us to come out on top,” Kelly said.

The Lady Broncos will face their final league opponent of the season at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29, versus Liberty in Gilson Gym.

Senior Night will be the following evening in Gilson Gym when the Lady Broncos take on Dayton in a nonleague match with tip-off at 6 p.m.