Broncos win league opener behind 31 points from Thompson

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos basketball team opened league play with a bang on Dec. 12, coasting to a 73-39 victory over the Upper Columbia Academy Lions at home.

The Broncos, improving to 3-1 overall on the season, were led offensively by senior Austin Thompson, who scored a career-high 31 points in the victory. It appears to be the most points scored in a game by an LRS player in this decade.

Thompson was 4-8 from beyond the arc in the game, and also converted several three-point plays the old fashioned way. He shot 12-19 overall from the field and was 3-5 from the foul line. He also had four rebounds, four assists and three steals in the victory.

Junior Drew Kelly also had a solid game for the Broncos, notching a double-double after scoring 15 points (7-10 shooting) and pulling down 11 rebounds--four of those on the offensive end. Kelly also had seven steals and four blocks in the game, as UCA turned the ball over 29 times on offense.

LRS jumped out to a 21-5 lead after the first quarter against UCA and never looked back, outscoring the visitors in all four quarters. Head coach Dustan Arlt said his team rebounded well after suffering its first loss of the season two days earlier, on the road against the Oakesdale Nighthawks by a score of 56-45.

"After losing a tough one to Oakesdale, it was good to see the kids come out right away [and set the tone]," Arlt said. "I was glad to see our boys come out and get that big lead in the first quarter."

The Broncos attempted just 38 shots in the loss to the Nighthawks, nearly only half as many shots (73) as the team attempted against UCA. Junior Josh McClure led the Broncos in the loss with 12 points, shooting 2-3 from three-point range and 4-5 overall from the field while also grabbing six rebounds. McClure was the only LRS scorer to finish the game in double figures.

Thompson and Kelly combined for just seven field goal attempts and nine points in that game, but would attempt 29 shots and score 46 points in the win against the Lions two days later.

"We didn't get [Thompson and Kelly] a lot of shots against Oakesdale, and they maybe didn't have their best games up there," said Arlt. "They bounced back really well. We want those guys shooting quite a bit for us."

As a team, the Broncos shot 22-42 on two-point attempts in the win against UCA and 9-31 from beyond the arc. Senior Spencer Gering overcame a tough start to the game to finish with nine points, while junior Carson Ayers finished with eight points, including two corner three-pointers in the first quarter to build up LRS' lead early on.

The Broncos hosted the Liberty Lancers on Dec. 17 in the team's second league tilt of the season, falling 73-69 after mounting a furious comeback.

The team will face off against the Tekoa-Rosalia Timberwolves on the road in another league game tomorrow, Dec. 20, at 7:30 p.m. Coverage of both of these games will be included in next week's issue of The Journal.

LRS will also host the Davenport Gorillas at Gilson Gym on Saturday, Dec. 21, in a non-league affair. Tip-off for that game is set for 6 p.m.