Lady Broncos split first two games of conference tournament

After a week of inclement weather and a pair of postponements, the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Lady Broncos basketball squad is trying to get its postseason back on track.

Following a first-round bye in the Northeast 2B Conference Tournament as the South Division's No. 2 seed, the Lady Broncos took the court Feb. 7 against the St. George's Dragons, the North's No. 3 seed. St. George's easily dispatched Tekoa-Rosalia in the opening round of the tournament to advance and play LRS.

The Lady Broncos struggled offensively in the opening quarter, trailing the Dragons 14-8 after the opening eight minutes. LRS picked it up in the second quarter, scoring 16 points to go into the half trailing St. George's 31-24. But the Lady Broncos weren't able to go on a serious run against the Dragons in the second half and found themselves in foul trouble with their seven-player rotation, ultimately falling 58-42 and moving to the tournament's consolation bracket.

"We tried to stop St. George's from getting inside and to the basket, and they just shot well from outside, so you've got to give them credit," said Lady Broncos head coach Steve Wellsandt. "We tried zone and man-to-man defense, and we just couldn't get them stopped."

Freshman Dakota Killian provided the offensive firepower for LRS, scoring 21 points-half of the team's total-in the game. Senior Lacey Miller hit a trio of three-pointers to finish with nine points, and junior Eliza Galbreath chipped in six points.

The Lady Broncos seemed to wear down in the second half, with sophomore Julia Klein's absence due to a wrist injury undoubtedly playing a role. Klein suffered the injury in the team's final regular season game against Reardan Feb. 1, forcing the team to go with a seven-player rotation in the postseason.

"We've just got to move past not having Julia," said Wellsandt. "We're probably going to make some changes [against Asotin] on how we can rotate."

LRS has three legitimate post players-Galbreath, Killian and senior Brooke Koch-and Wellsandt said he might try bringing one of those players off the bench rather than having all three of them start to make for a more natural and smooth rotation between the three.

After a pair of postponements Feb. 9 and Feb. 11 due to the weather, the Lady Broncos were able to bounce back in their next game against the Asotin Panthers, winning 59-31 on Feb. 12 to advance to the next round of the consolation bracket. LRS built up a 12-point lead at halftime, and had all but put the game away after the third quarter. Asotin only scored more than seven points in a quarter once.

Sophomore Linnea Schafer led the Lady Broncos with 18 points on the night. Killian and Galbreath also finished in double figures for LRS, scoring 16 and 13 points, respectively. With the win, the team improved its overall record to 11-11 on the season.

It was the Lady Broncos' third win of the season against the Panthers, after winning by 29 and 33 points in the two regular season tilts between the teams.

With the win, LRS advances to play either the Reardan Indians or the Wilbur-Creston Wildcats Feb. 14 at West Valley High School. The game is currently scheduled to tip at 5 p.m., but the schedule may be altered due to weather.

The Lady Broncos split the regular season series against the Indians, the South's No. 4 seed, winning the most recent matchup 42-31 in Reardan Feb. 1. LRS also beat Wilbur-Creston on the road in their lone game this season, 60-34 on Dec. 8.