Broncos basketball wins four straight

RITZVILLE – The boys' basketball is 4-0 so far with wins against Chewlah, Kettle Falls, Reardan and Northwest Christian.

The Broncos beat Kettle Falls 63-45 Friday, May 21, and beat Chewelah the next night 70-44.

The boys had an early solid lead in their away game against Kettle Falls, up 23-6 at the end of the first quarter. The Bulldogs scored six again and the Broncos scored 12 the second quarter. The Broncos came out strong again in the second half, scoring 20 in the third quarter and eight in the fourth. The Bulldogs scored 10 and 23 in the third and fourth quarters.

Drew Kelly scored 25 points, Chase Galbreath 15, Josh McClure 8, Hunter Dinkins 8, Hayden Melcher and Brock Kinch 2 each, and Cooper Miller 1.

In Saturday's game against Chewelah, the Broncos scored 18 in the first and second quarters, for a 36-19 lead at the end of the first half. They scored 14 and 20 in the third and fourth quarters for the 70-44 win.

Kelly again led in scoring with 25 points, Galbreath scored 19, Dinkins 10, McClure 5, Melcher 4, Kinch 3, and Carson Ayers and Lance Williamson each scored 2.

Earlier in the week, the Broncos hosted Reardan Tuesday, beating the Indians 72-53 after traveling to Colbert Monday and beating NW Christian 50-33.

"It was a good second league win, on back to back nights," Head Coach Dustan Arlt said. "I thought we could look a little tired, short on practices and having a late away game last night. We've only practiced three or four times, but I thought we started well. The second quarter, we were a little sluggish and let them get back into it. But tonight and even last night in the second half, we really turned it on."

"We knew it was going to be a battle, because they've got so much more size than us," said Reardan Head Coach Brian Graham. "The guys kept jumping up higher than us, but we did what we could. We stayed low, and if the ball touched the ground, we got it. We made a great comeback there, to cut it within three. We moved the ball, played good team defense, and got it to 36-33."

"Our big guys are kind of playing a little tougher. We had a lot of size on them tonight, and finally we used that a little bit better in the second half. We got three guys 6'4" and above," Arlt said. "I thought Josh McClure came off the bench and did a great job, he scored 13 points for the game and 10 of them in the second half. Hunter Dinkins hit a couple three's in the second half. So that really helps. Chase Galbreath and Drew Kelly, they're going to be tough for teams to stop. They each had 20. We just need two or three other guys to chip in, and we're going to be tough to beat right there."

"Our boys believe in each other, they know that it's a tall task to share with the shortened season and small rosters," Graham said. "But I'm proud of the effort. It's tough to play in this gym, so I'm happy with it."

Arlt said the Broncos were down by one point at the end of the first half against NW Christian.

"If we can finish a little bit better going into halftime, we won't have to worry about pulling away so much in the second half," Arlt said.