Lady Broncos roll Claude; win number one seat

By Sandy Anderberg

The Clarendon Lady Broncos have had a great season and were rewarded for their effort by earning the title of Co-District Champions after only one District loss to Panhandle last Tuesday night. A win would have given them the outright title, but both the Lady Broncos and the Pantherettes went 7-1 in District play and split the District Championship. Because of the tie, the teams met once again last Friday night at Claude in a seeding game and the Lady Broncos won 50-44.

The Lady Broncos came out in the first quarter and steamrolled the Lady Mustangs taking a six-point lead. But Claude outscored the Lady Broncos in the second period of play to cut their lead to two. Determination was key in the final minutes of the game, as the Lady Broncos were not going to be denied and took the six-point win. Clarendon shot 68 percent from the bonus line and Taylor DeGrate alone shot 86 percent. Camra Smith helped out as well from the charity stripe hitting three out of four of her free throws.

“It was a great game,” head coach Molly Weatherred said. “I thought the girls played extremely hard. It was a tough, physical game, and we stepped up to the challenge. I was proud of the adversity that the girls fought through. It can never be a good sign when one of your starters goes down the first play of the game, but we kept our composure and were able to get the win.”

On Tuesday, the Lady Broncos played their final district game against Panhandle and lost 45-52. Missed free throws plagued the Lady Broncos as they went three for ten and the Pantherettes shot 75 percent from the bonus line. The Lady Broncos trailed by only four points after the first quarter, but cold shooting struck in the second quarter of play and the ladies fell further behind at the break. They were able to work themselves back into the game in the final half of play, but time got away from them and they took the seven-point loss.

Scoring: Smith 12, Starnes 12, Gaines 11, DeGrate 8, and Howard 2.