By Sandy Anderberg
The Lady Broncos played five games in the Gruver Tournament over the holidays and defeated Texline in the first round at 61-44.
The ladies held a slight advantage after the first eight minutes, but turned up the heat in the second quarter to extend their lead. They were able to play fundamental basketball until the end and walked away with the win. Brianna Butler put in 18 points, and Shaelyn Owiti added 11 to lead the Lady Broncos. Briley Chadwick had seven, Berkeley Alexander had six, Jensen Hatley and Emily Johnson had five, Brandalyn Ellis put in four, Hannah Howard and Kira Weatherton each had two, and Hannah Hommel helped with one.
They went up against powerhouse Canadian in the next round and were defeated, 14-64. The ladies could never get anything going against the strong team. Owiti had seven, Alexander four, and Butler three.
The ladies took the next game with Borger into overtime and narrowly defeated them, 50-49.
The Lady Broncos jumped out to an early lead, but allowed the Lady Bulldogs back into the game before the break. Clarendon held the advantage after three, but Borger came back to send the game to OT. Alexander led the way with good inside work putting in 14 and Butler helped with 13. Howard and Chadwick each had seven, Owiti six, and Hatley three.
They took on San Jacinto next and earned a two-point win at 52-50. The game was close throughout, but the ladies hung on to get the win. Butler put in 23 points and went nine for eleven from the bonus line. Owiti had 12 and Alexander put in 11. Chadwick had four and Hommel put in two. As a team, the Lady Broncos shot 80 percent from the free throw line.
That win put the ladies in the consolation round where they took on Dalhart. Despite playing hard, the ladies were defeated, 37-69. The scoring was spread out nicely, but they struggled to stay with the Lady Wolves.
Butler, Owiti, and Ellis finished with eight each and Alexander added four. Howard and Hommel put in three each and Johnson added one.
“The girls had several tough games during the tourney,” coach Korey Conkin said. “We beat Borger, a 4A school in OT by one and beat a well-rounded San Jacinto team by one point as well. We were outmatched all around by an extremely talented Canadian team who is ranked number one in the state 3A division. We beat Texline fairly easily and our younger girls were able to get quite a bit of playing time. Dalhart was very quick and we had a hard time finding the energy to compete with them in the consolation championship.”
The Lady Broncos will begin district play January 6 in Memphis at 6:30 p.m. They will take on Wheeler at home on Tuesday, January 10.
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