Broncos season ends with loss to Reardan

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos basketball season came to an end last week, as the Broncos were eliminated in their third game of the Northeast 2B Conference Tournament.

After three consecutive postponements following LRS' loss to Colfax on Feb. 7, the Broncos finally took on the Reardan Indians on Feb. 13. Due to less-than-ideal road conditions caused by inclement weather that blanketed the region, the game was played in Davenport instead of West Valley High School, where the tournament was being held.

The Broncos went 2-0 against the Indians in the regular season, but came out flat offensively in this game. LRS scored just 11 points in the first two quarters and trailed by 14 points at the half.

The offense woke up in the third quarter as the Broncos scored 17 points, but the Indians kept pace and still had a healthy 13-point lead going into the final eight minutes. LRS outscored Reardan 12-7 in the final quarter, but it wasn't enough as they fell to their division rival 48-40.

"We just looked a little slow and a little sluggish, especially for a loser-out playoff game," said Broncos head coach Dustan Arlt. "The first couple of minutes were alright, and then the rest of the first half got pretty rough for us. That was our lowest-scoring half of the year by quite a bit."

In his final game in a Broncos basketball uniform, senior Bryce Kelly and his younger brother-and sophomore-Drew Kelly led the Broncos offensively with 12 points each. Juniors Austin Thompson and Spencer Gering were the only other two LRS players to score more than five points in the game, finishing with six and five points, respectively.

"Obviously it's a disappointing way to end the season," said Arlt. "We had a lot of things working against us, with the five-day delay with the snow and no school. We really hadn't been able to have a practice with [the whole team] together since Feb. 8 ... But at the end of the day we didn't come very ready or eager to play in the first half."

The Broncos finish the season with an overall record of 8-15. According to data from the WIAA and MaxPreps, LRS played the 13th toughest schedule for a 2B team in the state, out of a total of 62 teams.

"I felt we were a little bit better than what our record showed," said Arlt. " But still, at the end of the day we only had eight wins, and that's the first time in my 10 years as a head coach that I haven't had a team get to double digits in wins."

Arlt said it was a tough year for the team and for him as a coach, and while he acknowledged that the team was competitive in most of its games, he thought the team would have done a little bit better in some of those close games. Arlt also noted that there really were no truly weak teams in the South Division like there had been in years past.

Looking ahead to the 2019-20 season, LRS is expected to return three of its five starters and eight of its 12 players who suited up for varsity. Bryce Kelly (12.1 points per game) and Shontz Yaeger (3.1 ppg) are seniors and will be graduating, as are Eric Hayes and Morgan Brausen. Kelly was the Broncos' lone South All-League selection, being voted to the first team by the league's head coaches.

Offensively, the Broncos return 66.1 percent of their offensive production from last year, led by Drew Kelly (10.2 ppg), Thompson (8.0 ppg), Gering (6.3 ppg) and junior Cole Cameron (5.3 ppg). Arlt said junior varsity players that suited up for varsity in most of the team's games, such as sophomores Josh McClure and Carson Ayers and junior Garrett Frederick, will have a good chance of getting more varsity playing time next season.