Bronco defense holds late against ACH

COULEE CITY — Up by eight at the end of the third quarter, the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos held the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors to just six points over the final eight minutes of Saturday’s non-league matchup in Coulee City to win 52-39.

LRS picked up its second win of the season, having defeated Kittitas 72-45 the night prior.

“A back-to-back is tough, and a back-to-back when both of them are on the road is even tougher,” LRS coach Dustan Arlt said. “That was a challenge to overcome; probably some tired legs, got home late (Friday) night from Kittitas and coming up here. We got better in the second half.”

Saturday’s game was ACH’s season-opener.

“They’re excited, there was a lot of energy,” ACH coach Graham Grindy said. “I was really proud of the guys tonight; we’ve definitely gotten a lot better from last year when I look at each kid individually. With only two weeks of practice, you don’t have everything put together, but great effort, great intensity.”

    Lind-Ritzville/Sprague freshman Joey Duff, in red, and Almira/Coulee-Hartline sophomore Brady Roberts leap up for the opening tip.
  

After the Warriors led 11-10 at the end of the first quarter, the Broncos retook the lead on a jump shot by freshman Joey Duff. ACH tied the game at 14 on a three-pointer by sophomore Josh Booker, but the Broncos went on a 10-0 run surged by two threes by senior Lance Williamson.

“Saw an open shot, teammates put it in the right spot,” Williamson said. “Felt like a good shot to take, so I took it.”

ACH cut the lead to 24-18 right before half with baskets by juniors Jameson Conley and Carter Pitts.

“The guys battled and you see that there’s no quit,” Grindy said. “That was huge, it was a confidence builder for us.”

While the Warriors opened the second half with a three-pointer by sophomore Caden Correia, LRS went on an 11-4 run in the third quarter to widen its lead over ACH. Booker was fouled with less than a second remaining in the quarter and hit both of his free throws to cut the LRS lead to 41-33.

“We did not finish the second and third quarters very well; without a shot clock, shot a little early and gave up baskets both times,” Arlt said. “That hurt us a little bit, that’s a swing we’ve got to learn from early in the year.”

    Almira/Coulee-Hartline junior Denim Kenney, in white, corrals a rebound in the second half against Lind-Ritzville/Sprague.
  

Arlt said the Broncos switched to a zone defense in the fourth quarter, which allowed LRS to hold its opponents to just six points in the final frame.

“A lot of it was switching to that zone, and our defense — we rebounded, we got some steals that led to some offense,” Arlt said. “It’s (ACH’s) first game too, they were probably getting tired. I thought we got out, Blake Earle hit a couple threes, Zach Klein had a big and-one. Lance Williamson and Shawn Steinberger down low just kept using their size and battling all night to overcome a tough shooting night.”

The game wore on the Warriors in the fourth quarter, Grindy said.

“As your legs get tired your shot’s not there, they switched to a zone and that made us change our mentality,” Grindy said.

    Lind-Ritzville/Sprague senior Brock Kinch (24) takes a jump shot in the fourth quarter against Almira/Coulee-Hartline.
  

Williamson’s 15 points led the Broncos in their win Saturday night, while Correia and Booker both tied for the Warrior lead with nine points.

LRS hosts Medical Lake in a non-league contest Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. The Warriors host Lake Roosevelt at the same time.

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box score

LRS: 10-14-17-11 52
ACH: 11-7-15-6 39