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Tough game vs. Wildcats ends in loss for Broncs

JV Broncs lose in tough basketball game to the Stettler Wildcats.
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Clayton Raugust attempts a pick-and-roll basket past a Stettler Wildcats defender during the first quarter of their game at the Ponoka Secondary Campus gym on Wednesday

It was almost a heroic battle for JV Broncs on Wednesday, Feb. 17, when they had to finish a full 40-minute basketball game against Stettler Wildcats without a single substitute, inevitably losing with a score of 91-54 at the Ponoka Secondary Campus gym.

Scheduled for a week when the school was closed throughout, only five members of the JV Broncs team showed up for the game and they put up a great performance, at least in the first quarter. The visitors started storming the Broncs’ defence in the first five minutes and taking a nine-point lead. Ponoka boys responded with a stepped-up defence and a few three-pointers by Cameron Walsh and strong penetration into the paint by Clayton Raugust to establish balance by the end of the first: 19-19.

Second quarter, however, turned out to be the beginning of the demise of the local squad when poor ball handling and resulting turnovers allowed the visitors to score a lot of points and start to open a comfortable lead. By the end of the first half, the score was 46-30 for the Wildcats.

The second half saw the visitors pull further away with both pick-and-roll points and long-range shots while the hosts, with the added burden of apparent exhaustion, continued to turn the ball over and lose valuable possessions. When the final buzzer went off, Broncs were visibly relieved to have brought the game to a close without a bench.

“The second half was difficult, as the boys lost more of their energy, they started making more mental errors, bad passes, and failed to block out many times,” said Broncs’ coach Ryan Newman. “All in all, I was pretty impressed with the effort they put forth considering they were extremely exhausted.”