Broncos drop game to Vega

By Sandy Anderberg

The Clarendon Broncos were narrowly defeated last Tuesday night on the road falling at the hands of the Longhorns at 60-67. The Broncos lagged behind throughout and missed crucial free throws in the loss.

“We did not play good defense and make free throws against a good Vega team,” coach Brandt Lockhart said. “We were able to cut the lead to five points with a minute left after being down 13 points in the third quarter.”

Three Broncos managed double figures in the game with colt Wood and Keandre Cortez leading the way with 12 each. Marshal Johnson added 11, and Bryce Grahn and Junior Ceniceros helped with eight apiece. Chesson Sims had five, and Bear Smith added four. Wood also had five assists and four steels, and K. Cortez had two steals. Johnson had six rebounds, and Grahn had four rebounds and five assists.

The Broncos took on Panhandle JV in the opening round of the Panhandle Tournament and breezed by them at 68-31. The Panthers led after the first quarter, but the Broncos came alive in the second quarter of play, overcoming the five-point deficit to take a nine-point lead into the break.

Defensively, the Broncos turned up the heat and Panhandle was unable to answer back. Johnson hit 17 points and had seven rebounds, and Ceniceros put in 13 points and had four assists. Smith also finished in double figures with 11 points and had seen rebounds and three steals. Wood had eight points, three steals and three assists, and Sims had six points on the board. Grahn helped with five points, three assists, and four steals; and K. Cortez had five points and three steals. Damarjae Cortez helped with three points.

After the Panhandle win, the Broncos went head to head with Spearman and earned a 53-34 win. Ceniceros put in 13 points with seven rebounds, and Johnson had 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Broncos. There really was never any doubt as to the dominance by the Broncos, which left Spearman struggling. Grahn had seven points and five steals while Wood had seven points and five assists. Sims and D. Cortez had four points each, and Smith had three. D. Cortez had two points, four assists, and two steals.

The Amarillo Flames defeated the Broncos in the next round at 39-32. Neither team was able to find dominance in the game and the Broncos, as a team was unable to put points on the board.

Ceniceros finished with 17, and Johnson had 10. Wood had nine, Grahn two, and Sims one. Johnson recorded double-double with 13 rebounds, and Ceniceros had six rebounds and two assists. Grahn added two assists and five steals, and K. Cortez had two assists in the game.

The Broncos advanced to the championship game with Panhandle and despite fighting hard, were defeated 35-50. They struggled to get anything going offensively and could not contain the Panthers. Ceniceros and Grahn finished with 11 apiece, Johnson and Wood had six, and Smith had one. Johnson grabbed nine rebounds, and Ceniceros had six. Wood racked up four steals.

“I thought we improved defensively during the Panhandle Tournament,” Lockhart said. “We were able to advance to the championship game against Panhandle. I was very proud of our defensive play against Panhandle, but did not shoot well. Keandre Cortez had a great tournament defensively.

The Broncos will play in the Gruver Tournament December 28-29.