Broncos clean up against Wellington and Panhandle

By Sandy Anderberg

The Broncos had a good week on the court while maintaining their number one spot in the district race by defeating Wellington and Panhandle.

The Broncos defeated Wellington 61-40 at home and skimmed by Panhandle on the road with a 36-35 final.

The Broncos jumped out to an early lead over the Rockets, but cold shooting allowed Wellington to start a come back in the second quarter. After regrouping at the break, the Broncos retook control of the game and got the win.

The Broncos did a good job of shooting the three as Colt Wood hit three and Bryce Grahn and Keandre Cortez each put in one. They only shot four free throws in the game and made good on three of them.

Wood had 17, K. Cortez had 11, and Marshal Johnson put in 10. Chance Lockhart had nine, Bear Smith had eight, Grahn put in five, and Damarjae added one.

The Broncos played a tighter game in Panhandle and went down to the wire to get the one-point win. Panhandle lead after one, but the Broncos came back to tie the game at 12 before the break. After fighting it out, the game went down to just ticks left on the clock and tied at 35 all.

Colt Wood went up for a shot with one second on the clock and was fouled. He missed the first free shot, but made the second to put his team up by one. Time ran out for the Panthers and the Broncos won the game.

“We did not shoot well, but we continue to play good defense,” coach Brandt Lockhart said. “I was proud of the way the kids found a way to win. We have not won in Panhandle in a long time.”

Grahn had 13 and shot seven out of nine from the bonus line and Johnson had nine. Wood put in six, Smith had four, and Lockhart and Jacob Jeffers added two each.

Smith also had nine rebounds and Lockhart had eight. Grahn had two assists and K. Cortez and Wood each had one. Lockhart had one steal, and Grahn and Johnson helped with one each. Wood had four deflections in the game.

The Broncos will travel to Memphis on Friday, February 10, to finish their regular season play.