Sports

By Sandy Anderberg

The Lady Broncos connected as a team and raced through ranked teams over the holidays in the Wildcat Classic basketball tournament held in Littlefield December 27-29.

The ladies began the tournament with a huge win over Pecos at 69-24. They stormed through each quarter of play and controlled every part of the game on both parts of the court from the beginning. The Lady Eagles were helpless in trying to stop the Lady Broncos who hit four three pointers and was led by Kashlyn Conkin with 12 points that included two three-pointers. Right behind Conkin was Kimbrasia Ballard who finished with 10 and Berkley Moore with nine. Presley Smith and Graci Smith had eight points each and Kate Shaw had five.

In the second round, the Lady Broncos took on the fourth ranked Class 4A Lady Loboettes of Levelland and played great ball to defeat them in overtime at 49-40. Kenidee Hayes put in eight of her 10 points in the overtime period going six for six from the bonus line.
The ladies held a two-point lead in the opening quarter but allowed Levelland to get back in the game and overtake the lead by five points at the break.

They were able to make up all but one point of the deficit in the third and nailed a two-pointer to tie the score after regulation. They were able to go to work and turn up the heat defensively in the three extra minutes to get the win.

The win over the 4th ranked team was big and will give the momentum they need going into District play. P. Smith put in 12 points and Hayes added 10. Moore hit two threes for six and Courtlyn Conkin and Tandie Cummins helped with five each.

The Lady Broncos did not let the win hinder their play in the final game against the host team and defeated them 39-32 to win the championship. Solid play allowed the ladies a two-point cushion at the break over the Lady Cats. However, a small comeback attempt in the second half by Littlefield spurred on the Lady Broncos in the final period of play. They stayed determined to get the win. K. Conkin led the way with 10, and P. Smith and Hayes added five each in the low-scoring game.

On December 15, the Lady Broncos went up against Nazareth and squeezed by for the win at 37-30. After holding a three-point advantage at the break, the ladies found a rhythm offensively and were able to put a little distance between themselves and the Lady Swifts. They were able to hold onto that spread for the remainder of the game to get the win. C. Conkin led with eight points and Hayden Elam and G. Smith added five each. P. Smith, T. Cummins, and Shaw finished with four apiece and K. Conkin added one three-pointer. Moore, and K. Cummins put in two points each.

The Lady Bronco JV took on Nazareth as well and were narrowly defeated at 28-32. The game was fairly even throughout with Nazareth holding the slight advantage after a matching score of eight points after the first seven minutes of play. Kimbrasia Ballard put in 11 points to lead the way and Cambree Smith added seven. Jayla Woodard had four, and Madi Benson, Gracie Ellis, and Kinslee Hatley helped with two points each.

Both Lady Bronco teams will open district play at home on January 5 playing at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. They will travel to Quanah on January 9.

By Sandy Anderberg

The Lady Broncos have been able to blow through teams so far this season and earning big wins.

Clarendon is currently ranked #8 in the TABC state rankings. Their latest wins came over the weekend as they participated in the Childress Tournament where they had four wins. They are 10-1 on the season.

Earlier in the week, the ladies traveled to Vega and demolished the Lady Longhorns 83-40. Four players finished in double figures with sophomore Berkley Moore leading the way with 14 points. Hayden Elam put in 13 that included going five for six from the bonus line, and Kenidee Hayes and Graci Smith put in 12 points each.

The Lady Broncos jumped on Vega early on and were able to set the rhythm of the game in their favor. The Longhorns struggled against Clarendon’s strong defense, and the Lady Broncos were able to capitalize on Vega’s mistakes and turnovers.
Presley Smith was able to put in nine points and Kate Shaw had eight. Courtlyn Conkin added seven, and Tandie and Kennadie Cummins helped with four each.

The Lady Broncos took on Vernon in the first round of the Round Robin Tournament in Childress and defeated them 50-41. The ladies nailed six three-pointers in the game and were 18 for 28 from the bonus line. Kashlyn Conkin had the hot hand from the arc and posted four big shots to help her team and lead the way with 12 points. Clarendon had Vernon down 11 points after three quarters and stayed solid the last eight minutes for the win. Moore, Elam, and Shaw added eight points each on the scoreboard.

Elk City was their second opponent, and they earned the victory in overtime at 50-47. The ladies showed their strength in the overtime period after leading until the fourth quarter. The ladies have been steady from the free throw line but fell off a bit and only converted at 58 percent in the high-fouling game. However; they were able to convert the shots when it counted. Hayes finished with 12 and Moore put in 11.

The ladies took on Floydada in the next round and defeated them 36-31 with a strong finish. The Lady Broncos trailed throughout until the final eight minutes. They were able to stay focused and hustled until the end to get the win. Moore led with 11, and K. Conkin and Shaw added six points each in the win.

They faced off against Hermleigh in the final game and won by 20 points at 53-33. Once again Moore led the way with 12 and G. Smith added 12 points of her own from the inside position.

The ladies performed well the entire game and got off to a great start early. They were able to show their dominance to the Lady Cardinals and held them away from the goal. Hermleigh was able to outscore the Lady Broncos in the final quarter of play, but it was too little too late for the Lady Cardinals.

P. Smith and K. Cummins put in five points each and K. Conkin and K. Cummins added four apiece. Elam connected with a three-pointer, and C. Conkin, Jayla Woodard, T. Cummins, and Shaw helped with two points each. The ladies shot 50 percent from the bonus line.

By Sandy Anderberg

The Clarendon Broncos’ 2023 football season ended last week at the hands of the Sunray Bobcats in the State Quarter-Final game played in Canyon.

The loss was painful for the Broncos as they have played with a lot of heart this season. They were able to adjust positions when players were injured, and everyone stepped up their game to keep their winning streak alive.

The Broncos struggled against a good Sunray team and did not execute the way they have since their winning streak began on September 15. Sunray, who is currently ranked 10th in the 2A Region II standings proved to be too much for the Broncos, who are a much better team than the score revealed.

Senior quarterback/running back Lyric Smith played the first half and was able to hit fellow senior Easton Frausto for six in the second period of play. Smith racked up 64 rushing yards before receiving a leg injury that took him out of the game. Frausto stepped in to finish the game at the QB spot and did a good job for the Broncos.

However; the Bobcats were able to score at will and finished with big numbers in the game, 6-67 over the Broncos.
The Broncos will miss this year’s seniors as they have played a crucial role in the Broncos’ successes this season and those previous. Lyric Smith, Easton Frausto, Anthony Ceniceros, Jared Musick, Waite Dushay, Jaxan McAnear, Harrison Howard, Reagan Wade, Riley Wade, Colton Benson, and Tyler Tuttle. Senior cheerleaders are Morgan Johnston and Emma Roys, and senior band members are Jacob Murillo, Cutter Seay, and Tyler Tuttle.

As much as the seniors will be missed, the underclassmen are ready to step up and follow in their footsteps.

By Sandy Anderberg

The Clarendon Broncos took down Gruver 34-32 last week and earned the right to the State Quarter-final game against Sunray on Friday, December 1, 2023, at Happy State Bank Stadium in Canyon at 7:00 p.m.

The Broncos gained the upper hand early in last week’s game, but the Greyhounds fought back to make it a close game.

The Broncos finished the game with 150 yards passing and 268 yards on the ground for 418 total yards. Quarterback Lyric Smith was 11/16 passing for 128 yards with two touchdowns. Smith posted two TDs rushing and grabbed a pass from Easton Frausto for a touchdown as well.

Frausto also had a good offensive game and was 4/20 receiving with one score for 46 total yards and threw the strike to Smith for six. Shane Hagood had seven carries for 18 yards to help the Broncos. Quay Brown had a 36-yard touchdown from Smith and Mason Sims had two catches for 25 yards.

With their early start, the Broncos were able to make a statement to the Greyhounds even though Gruver was able to get back into the ball game by half time and only trail by three points. Both teams scored twice each in the second half of play with Gruver converting an extra point to close the gap by one. A last-ditch attempt by the Greyhounds with three minutes to go ended in a fumble that was recovered by the Broncos to cap the win by two points.

“You gotta have some things go your way, and I think our preparation shows.” Head coach Aaron Wampler said. “Just the heart, the fight, and the grit of these guys, can’t say enough about their effort.”

Defensively, the Broncos were strong and quick to get to the Gruver quarterback. Jared Musick led the way with 13 tackles, one QB sack, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery, and Dalton Coles posted 12 tackles and a forced fumble and recovery as well.

Grant Haynes was busy with nine tackles, and Ranger Drenth and Jaxan McAnear helped with six tackles each. Waite Dushay grabbed a Gruver fumble and had two tackles on the night and Brown and Anthony Ceniceros had one tackle each.

Follow live updates from this Friday’s game at Facebook.com/TheEnterprise.