After fifth-place finish, Broncos bring new team into 2023-24 season

RITZVILLE — Riding off a fifth-place finish at last year’s 2B State Basketball Tournament, the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos will hit the court with plenty of new faces in key roles during the 2023-24 season.

“We lost a lot of kids, so it’s a lot of new faces,” LRS coach Dustan Arlt said. “A lot of kids that have got to go out and prove it right now at the varsity level, gain some confidence. We’ve got some new kids stepping up to the varsity level, but I think our early schedule gives us a chance to win some games and give us some confidence.”

LRS, a No. 9 seed in last season’s tournament, defeated No. 8 Adna and No. 2 Morton White-Pass in the first two rounds of the state tournament before falling 55-50 to the state runner-up Brewster. 

Arlt said last year’s run can be motivating to players in the program.

“It shows the kids if we do the right things, put the time in and make the effort that we can achieve these kinds of things in our program,” Arlt said. 

The Broncos lost five seniors off of last year’s roster, as well as sophomore Jayce Kelly; with much of the starting five and depth gone this season, Arlt said it’ll take the team coming together to be able to compete in a challenging Northeast 2B league. Among the former Broncos were all-league talents Chase Galbreath, Hunter Dinkins and Kelly.

A big factor is rebounding, with the six-foot-five Galbreath no longer under the rim for the Broncos.

“I’ve been kind of spoiled rebounding, so now we’re gonna have to work together as a team and rebound,” Arlt said. “Get everyone rebounding together, and just come together offensively. Some guys are going to have to step up and play some bigger roles.”

In hopes to create some on-court chemistry with a new roster, the Broncos traveled to three team camps over the summer; one at St. George’s, one at Whitworth and another at a BNB Camp in Newport. 

“A bunch of new faces, some guys filled in some larger roles than what they’re used to,” Arlt said. “We came together and had a good summer, won a lot of games and competed with some teams with a lot of experience a little better than I thought.”

Throughout the summer and the early weeks of practices, Arlt said LRS’s ability to play defense and advance the ball up the court have been strengths so far.

“We’ve got enough athletes and experience and strength to play some good defense,” Arlt said. “I’ve been pretty pleased with how we’ve been moving the ball, that’s going to be pretty important.”

LRS opens its 2023-24 season Dec. 1, on the road against Kittitas. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s a good group, our league is very tough,” Arlt said. “Getting into league, we’re probably about somewhere in the middle of the pack; trying to battle those upper-level teams that have some good kids back … we’ve just got to keep competing, getting better and better and hopefully be in a good place going into the district tournament.”

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

LRS Boys Basketball Schedule

Dec. 1 — @ Kittitas — 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 2 — @ Almira/Coulee-Hartline — 6 p.m.

Dec. 5 — vs. Medical Lake — 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 7 — @ Upper Columbia Academy — 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 8 — @ Asotin — 7 p.m.

Dec. 12 — vs. Liberty (Spangle) — 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 16 — vs. Colfax — 6 p.m.

Dec. 19 — vs. Asotin — 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 21 — @ Tri-Cities Prep — 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 29 — vs. Royal — 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 5 — vs. Kettle Falls — 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 6 — @ Reardan — 6 p.m.

Jan. 12 — vs. Northwest Christian (Colbert) — 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 13 — @ Jenkinc (Chewelah) — 6 p.m.

Jan. 16 — @ Davenport — 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 19 — vs. St. George’s — 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 23 — @ Liberty (Spangle) — 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 29 — vs. Upper Columbia Academy — 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 30 — @ Colfax — 7:30 p.m.

    LRS junior Zach Klein (3) takes a shot close to the rim against Brewster in the 2B state semifinals last season.
  

    The Broncos are replacing a talented senior class from a year ago, which included graduate Hunter Dinkins (11).
  

    With graduate Chase Galbreath (22) no longer under the rim, LRS Head Coach Dustan Arlt said there will be a focus on team rebounding.