By Dave Vrbas

The Wauneta Breeze

It wasn’t the kind of result they wanted, and very likely wasn’t what they expected, but the Bronco boys followed up their first loss of the season at Hayes Center with another loss, forcing themselves into a fight for third at the Brady Holiday Tourney last week.

The Broncos fell in the first round to then 3-3 Anselmo-Merna by six points, 51-45, but rebounded to beat home team Brady in the consolation match, 66-35.

This week, the Broncos bettered their record to 6-2 with a Cambridge Invite championship, trouncing both Southern Valley and home team Cambridge en route to the title.

Coverage of the Cambridge Invite and this weekend’s game on the road at Hitchcock County on Friday and at home against Southwest on Saturday, will be included in next week’s Breeze edition.

First-round falter

With senior Myles West out due to illness, Anselmo-Merna used a final-quarter push to clinch a victory over the Broncos last Monday, earning themselves a championship battle against Paxton the following evening.

Both teams put up even scoring for much of the game. A-M held just a one-point lead going into the final quarter until pulling off a 16-11 blitz during the last eight minutes of regulation to seal the deal against the Broncs.

Chris Bartels led the Broncos with 19 points, going five-for-seven in field goal shooting and three-for-five from outside the arc. Bartels also grabbed five boards and handed out three assists. He and Drew Harris also led defensively, grabbing two steals apiece.

Harris ended the game with 15 points, also passing out three assists and blocking two shots.

Other Bronco scorers were Landen Lawless with four, Ricky Martin with three, and Ryan Fischer and Bo Fanning with two points each. Martin led on the boards, where the Broncos as a team were outdone 28-23, with nine rebounds.

Consolation match victory

Taking on 1-6 Brady in the consolation game of the tourney, the Broncos leapt out 31-16 at the half and kept right on rolling to a 66-35 victory at game end.

Four Broncos landed in double figures during the lopsided game. Harris led all scorers with 21 points, followed by Martin and Bartels with 14 apiece, and Myles West chipped in 10 to round out double-digit scorers.

Harris’ 21 points came from a seven-for-10 performance from the field including three treys, as well as a four-for-five clip from the free throw line. The Bronco junior also pulled down five boards and led with Myles West in steals with four.

Martin was just two boards away from a double-double, pulling down eight rebounds to complement his six buckets and lead the team on the boards. He also recorded the team’s lone blocked shot.

Bartels led in assists with seven and pulled down five rebounds. West contributed a 71 percent field goal shooting percentage to go with his four steals.

Other Bronco scorers were Lawless with three and Fanning and Fischer with two each.

As a team, the Broncos shot at 53 percent from the field and 65 percent from the free throw line. Brady led on the boards with a 36-28 advantage.

Upcoming action

The Broncos head to Trenton to take on 2-8 Hitchcock County, then play host to 0-8 Southwest on Saturday.