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Sheldon boys defeat Ballard in conference tournament play, 69-53
By Eric Wade
Nevada Daily Mail
"I think I told my assistant, Josh (Lamb), that all I wanted is get this game over with and not have anybody hurt." Sheldon Panthers head coach Tyler Judd had a lot to worry about when it came to possible player injuries during Wednesday night's game in the Golden Valley Vernon County Conference Tournament.
The Panthers came into the night against the Bulldogs of Ballard High School with the hope of making it to the tournament championship, but those hopes turned quickly to sheer survival as the officials working Wednesday's tournament session seemed to have a "just let them play" attitude, which resulted in one of the most physical contests the Panthers have seen all year.Judd's squad battled through it, however, earning a 69-53 victory and coming out of it almost completely unscathed.
"We've got a couple of nicks and bruises, but I think we're good to go on Saturday night," Judd said.
The contest started out very well for the Panthers (16-6) as they took advantage of some significant offensive woes for the Bulldogs. Those offensive woes quickly allowed the Panthers to pull away and Judd's squad finished the game's first 8 minutes with a 21-9 lead.
That lead continued to grow as the minutes wore on and Ballard's woes continued. By the time the first half was over, the Panther's lead had grown to 24 points, at 39-15.
"Our first half, that was probably one of the best first halves we've played," Judd said. "Our defensive intensity was great, we executed on offense really well and I think the scoreboard showed that."
That first half saw Sheldon dominate the Bulldogs on both ends of the floor, dictating the tempo of the game throughout the first 16 minutes.
"They didn't get anything easy, which is always our goal and we controlled the glass, which is important," Judd said. "I couldn't be prouder of our first half effort."
That all changed in the second half, however. As the two squads took the floor, it was clear right from the start that things had quickly begun to unravel for Judd's squad.
"The second half was a little ugly, but when you're up 20-some points, it's just tough to be real crisp sometimes," Judd said.
By the time the third quarter came to an end, the Panthers were not only starting to feel the effects of their own struggles, but the physicality of the game was clearly taking its toll as players simply threw one another around the court on a number of occasions.
"We just tried to survive that second half," Judd said. "I thought it got incredibly physical, which I wasn't happy with, but it is what it is. You've got to learn to deal with the contact."
Deal with the contact is exactly what the Panthers did as the Bulldogs got back within 14 as they took a 54-30 deficit into the fourth quarter, but that was as close as it got. The Panthers ultimately held on through the rest of the contest, punching their ticket to the tournament championship game with a 16-point victory.
Micah Swanson led the offense for the Panthers as he finished with 21 points to lead all scorers. Swanson was joined in double figures by Reed Worsley with 16 and Corey Baney with 13.
"Our motto the whole year year has been to defend that conference championship and we're going to have a good chance on Saturday to do it," Judd said.
Bronaugh 38, Sheldon 35
The Sheldon Lady Panthers found themselves in a hole early, but made one of the most valiant comebacks head coach Leon Lowe has seen all year against the Lady Wildcats of Bronaugh Wednesday night.
The Lady Wildcats scored the first eight points of the game before Alesha Laning finally found the bucket with a 3-pointer with 1:28 left in the opening quarter. The Lady Panthers went on to shut out Bronaugh for the remainder of the quarter and added one more free throw to their own tally to take an 8-4 deficit into the second.
Neither team was really able to do much offensively throughout the contest, but the Lady Panthers ultimately completed the comeback in the second quarter thanks to tough defense and took a 15-12 edge into the locker room at halftime.
Things looked good for Lowe's squad from that point on as the Lady Panthers were outscored by one in the third, but still took a 23-21 lead into the game's final period.
Bronaugh's best quarter of the game came when it counted as head coach Sean Crane's Lady Wildcats put up 17 points in the fourth quarter. Sheldon put up its best offensive performance in the fourth as well, but it wasn't quite good enough as Bronaugh held off a late charge to take a 38-35 victory.
Hume 55, Ballard 16
The Lady Hornets of Hume looked as though they hardly even noticed the presence of the Ballard Lady Bulldogs in the Golden Valley Vernon County Conference tournament Wednesday night.
The Lady Bulldogs were shut out, 9-0 in the opening period and managed just five points in the opening half as the Lady Hornets poured on the offensive pressure.
After taking a 37-5 lead into the locker room at halftime, the Lady Hornets kept the pressure on, extending the lead to 51-9 heading into the game's final 8 minutes. In those final 8 minutes, the Lady Bulldogs actually outscored Hume, 7-4, but couldn't put much of a dent in what ultimately was a dominant victory for Hume.
Senior Tori Sears led the offense for Hume with 16 points and was joined in double figures by Hope Yarick with 12. Stacia Cooper led Ballard with 10.