Broncos beat Valley

By Sandy Anderberg

The Bronco varsity basketball team gained a big win over the Valley Patriots on the road Tuesday night. After leading from the beginning the Broncos won 58-38.

Clarendon shot 70 percent from the free throw line, which helped them to stay one step in front of the Patriots. Aggressive offense and intense defense allowed the Broncos to find a rhythm in the game and stop Valley from gaining any momentum. The second quarter of play was big for the Broncos to give them a boost going into the second half. Consistency was key in the last half of play as the Broncos stayed solid. The inside strength of Cole Ward and Adam Topper plus the outside shooting of Cody Wood gave the Broncos the edge they needed to get the win. Head coach Brandt Lockhart felt the Broncos turned up the heat in the second half of play.

“We played well on defense and pushed the ball in the second half and got easy baskets. We only allowed two offensive rebounds.”

Scoring: Ward 16, Topper 13, Wood 11, Charles Mason 8, Trajen Johnson 4, Diego Santos 2, Jonah Sell 2, and Cedrick McCampbell 2.

The Broncos played in the Canadian Basketball Tournament over the holidays and took on Wheeler in the opening round. They played solid basketball and breezed to a 71-36 win.

The Broncos came together and hustled hard to take an 18-point lead at the break while holding their opponent to only 12 first half points. They continued their dominance after half time and got the big win. Ward was on fire and put in 21 points while Topper also finished in double figures with 13.

Also scoring: Mason 8, Wood 7, Santos 7, Chance McAnear 5, Johnson 4, Sell 3, and Wood 1.

The Broncos went up against Childress in the second round and narrowly lost 53-55. The Broncos could never get any offense going and trailed by eight points at the break.

Foul trouble plagued them, as they had to hustle to get back into it. They were able to get within two points, but ran out of time. Topper, Ward, and Santos finished in double figures.

Scoring: Topper 16, Ward 12, Santos 10, Wood 9, and Johnson 6.

The loss put the Broncos in the consolation round where they met up against Wellington. They hustled hard and fought to the end, but were defeated 55-64.

The Broncos only trailed by three after the opening quarter, but the Rockets were able to increase their lead to 11 points at the break. The Broncos were able to stage a comeback in the final half of play, but could not overcome the point difference. Topper was a workhorse inside and finished with 21 points.

“I thought we played well the first game, but the next two games we did not shoot the ball well,” Lockhart said. “We had chances to win the game, but could not get stops and could not convert on offense. I thought we played hard, but did not play physical.”

Scoring: Topper 21, Santos 9, Johnson 9, Wood 6, Ward 6, and Mason 4.

The Broncos will play Childress at home on Friday, January 4, at home at 6:00 p.m. and open their District season at home on Tuesday, January 8, against Claude.