Morgan Wheatly

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.

By Sandy Anderberg

The Lady Broncos played three fairly even quarters against Vega on the road last Tuesday night, but the third quarter worked against them in their 42-50 loss to the Lady Longhorns.

The Lady Broncos played Vega to a tie after the first eight minutes and took the lead by three going into the break. But the Lady Longhorns overtook Clarendon in the third quarter to get the lead. The Lady Broncos were able to fight back but came up short at the buzzer.

Briana Butler connected with 12 points, and Berkeley Alexander helped with 11 to lead the ladies on the scoreboard. Hannah Howard helped with seven, and Hannah Hommel added six. Shaelyn Owiti had three, Briley Chadwick had two, and Jensen Hatley put in one. The team made nine of fifteen free throws for 60 percent.

They also competed in the Panhandle Tournament over the weekend and went up against the host team in the first round. They were defeated, 36-60. The Lady Broncos could never get anything going against the Pantherettes’ tough defense.

“We opened up with a very good Panhandle team,” coach Kalen Grahn said. “We lost the game, but our girls did not quit. The coaches from Panhandle complimented the girls for not quitting and playing had. We actually outscored Panhandle in the third quarter, 14-12.”

Butler and Chadwick had 11 each and Howard put in four. Alexander and Owiti had three and King and Hommel each had two.

They took on Spearman in the second round and were defeated 26-48.

According to Grahn, the ladies could not get anything going.

“This game against Spearman was not good,” Grahn said. “As a group that might have been our worst outing of the year. Nothing went our way. I was able to play all our girls, so some young players picked up some valuable varsity time.”

Butler had six, Chadwick had five, and JV player Sandrea Smith put in five, also. Hatley and Owiti each had three and Alexander and JV player Brandalyn Ellis helped with three each.

The Lady Broncos went battled Highland Park in the final game of the tournament and lost 43-54. Grahn felt the ladies gave it their all against the Lady Hornets.

“The third game against Highland Park, was by far our best performance,” Grahn said. “The girls bounced back after a tough loss to Spearman and played very well. We were tied at halftime and down by four starting the fourth. Our inside game played well, with Berkeley Alexander leading us with 14 points. We had a few possessions that we did not execute and that was the difference. Overall, we saw some good things and we will keep working to get better.”

Alexander 14, Chadwick 6, Smith 6, Butler 5, Hatley 5, Howard 4, and Hommel 3.

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

By Sandy Anderberg

The Broncos were on fire and left no doubt as to their athletic ability individually and as a team last week. They blew through three teams on their way to the championship, dominating every win by several points.

The Broncos took on Caprock JV in the first round and defeated them, 83-46.

The Broncos were on their game on both ends of the court and spread their scoring throughout the entire team. There was never any doubt as the Broncos outscored their opponents by almost 40 points. Marshal Johnson put in 19 points, and Junior Ceniceros added 18.

Bryce Grahn finished with nine points, and Colt Wood had eight. Chance Lockhart had seven, as did Keandre Cortez. Chesson Sims helped with six points, and Damarjae Cortez had three. Lockhart grabbed eight rebounds and five. Grahn had six assists and three steals and Wood had five assists and three steals.

The Broncos took on Claude in the second round and easily defeated them, 82 to 46. The team out rebounded their opponent and once again everyone scored. Ceniceros had 25 points, Wood had 15, and Sims put in 12 points to lead their team on the scoreboard. Sims grabbed 13 rebounds and Johnson had eight. Grahn had three assists and three steals in the game.

The win over the host team allowed the broncos to play in the championship where they faced Pala Duro. They defeated them 61 to 52 to take the trophy. Ceniceros put in 17 points, Wood had 15, and Johnson had 14. Johnson grabbed nine rebounds and Wood had eight. Ceniceros had five assists and three steals, and the Cortez brothers had three assists each.

“We shot the ball well the first two games and played good defense,” said coach Brandt Lockhart. “In the championship game we did not shoot the ball well until midway through the third quarter.

“We were down 16 points with five minutes left in the third and were able to come back and win. I was very proud of the way we kept fighting. Junior Ceniceros was named MVP of the tournament, and Bryce Grahn was named to the All-Tournament team.”

Earlier in the week the Broncos took on a tough River Road team and lost at the end by two points at 47 to 49.

The Broncos lead until the final quarter of play but could not put in the points they needed to get the win. Ceniceros had 11 points, and Johnson put in nine and had five rebounds. Wood had eight points and three steals, D. Cortez helped with seven points, and Sims had four. Lockhart had seven rebounds and four steals.

The Broncos will play in the Panhandle Tournament December 10-12.

By Sandy Anderberg

The Lady Broncos did all they could do in the game with River Road at home last week. They fought to the end but finished one point out of a win at 47-48.

The Ladies were on their game and played solid basketball. They game remained close in its entirety, with neither team giving in. However, the Lady Broncos struggled at the line somewhat and missed crucial lay ups, but progress is being made according to coach Kalen Grahn.

“We have talked about getting every girl to score,” Grahn said. “And we are playing hard. We are really close to putting it all together.”

Briana Butler and Briley Chadwick finished in double figures with 14 and 12 points to lead their team on the scoreboard. Hannah Howard and Shaelyn Owiti each finished with six, and Hannah Hommel and Berkeley Alexander each had four. Jensen Hatley added one.

The Lady Broncos participated in the Claude Tournament last weekend and took on four tough teams. They went 0-4 for the tournament, but Grahn is positive their season will turn around.

“The girls are playing very hard,” Grahn said. “We are in the games, but we have some trouble executing down the stretch. We are growing as a team and our attitudes are great. It will come together, we just have to keep working hard.”

Scores from the Claude Tournament were: Clarendon v. Bushland, 28-48; Clarendon v. River Road, 54-63; Clarendon v. Tulia, 37-43; and Clarendon v. Pampa, 42-48.

The Lady Broncos play in the Panhandle Tournament Dec.10-12.