Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
RITZVILLE — The Broncos boys basketball team split with Northeast 2B rivals Friday and Saturday, Jan. 6 and 7.
The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague/Washtucna/Harrington boys topped Jenkins (Chewelah) on Saturday, Jan. 7, a day after falling to Northwest Christian (Colbert) on Friday.
In Saturday’s game against the Jenkins Cougars, the local boys never trailed in their 60-47 victory.
The Broncos outscored the Crusaders 13-12 in the first quarter and 14-8 in the second to take a 27-20 lead to the locker room at halftime.
The Broncos added 9 points to the margin in the third quarter to take a 47-31 lead at the end of three.
In the final stanza, the Cougars stepped up their offense, outscoring the Broncos, 16-13, but it wasn’t enough to change the outcome of the game.
Hunter Dinkins led the Broncos with 20 points as Ryan McMillan match him point-for-point for the Cougars.
Jace Kelly put up 13 points for the Broncos, too, and teammates Hayden Melcher and Chase Galbreath each added 9.
Rounding out scoring for the Broncos, Cooper Miller added 4 points, Lance Williamson 3 and Brock Kinch 2.
The win came a day after the Crusaders pulled off a late, come-from-behind rally to down the Broncos.
In that Friday night matchup, Northwest Christian outpaced the Broncos, 18-13, in the first quarter. But then the Broncos put on a scoring show, with Lind-Ritzville boys scoring 19 points in each the second and third quarters.
The Broncos held a slim 32-29 lead at halftime and a 51-38 lead at the end of the third.
But Northwest Christian rallied in the final quarter for 20 points, while holding the Broncos to just 4.
The rally lifted the Crusaders to a 58-55 victory over the Broncos.
Kelly led all scorers with 27 points for the Broncos. Galbreath added 8, Kinch 6, Nick Labes 6, and Miller and Melcher 2 each.
This week, the boys host Upper Columbia Academy (Spangle) tonight, Wednesday, travel to St. George’s (Spokane) on Friday and return home to face Davenport on Saturday.
Roger Harnack is owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. An award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher who grew up in Eastern Washington, he's one of only two Washington state journalists ever to receive the international Golden Quill for editorial/commentary writing. Roger is committed to preserving local media, and along with it, a local voice for Eastern Washington.
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