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Bronaugh protects home-court en route to sweep of Hume
It was Homecoming for the Bronaugh Wildcats this past Friday evening as they welcomed the Hume Hornets for the annual Red-Green Christmas game.
Both Bronaugh squads were victorious, with the girls prevailing 46-39 while the boys won 58-43. The victories prevented both the Hornets and Lady Hornets from locking up the Golden Valley Vernon County Conference regular-season crown outright.
Only the first meeting with a GVVC conference opponent counts towards the GVVC standings, as not every team plays each other twice. Both Hume teams entered Friday night 5-0 in the GVVC, with only Bronaugh standing in the way of the GVVC regular-season boys and girls titles.
With the win the Lady Wildcats improve to 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the GVVC, while the while the Bronaugh boys moved to 4-4 overall and 3-0 in conference. The Lady Hornets meanwhile are 6-1 overall and 5-1 in the GVVC while the Hume boys are 5-2 overall and 5-1 in conference. With the Friday night outcomes both the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats control their own destiny in the GVVC.
Girls game
Bronaugh opened with a 4-2 start over Hume before shooting guard Heather Baker put in a big 3-pointer with 5:55 to play in the first quarter. It was now Hume's turn as they went on a 6-2 run late in the first quarter.The Hume run ended when Baker again hit from the outside.
Heading into the second quarter, Bronaugh led Hume 12-8. Hume point guard Brhett Mumma narrowed the gap with two points less than a minute into the second. Bronaugh answered with four straight points before a timeout brought a stop to play with 5:26 remaining in the first half. Seconds later, Mumma put in two points before the game went into timeout again at 5:09.
Bronaugh freshman Riley Knapp scored four quick points, followed by Mumma for two points and a trip to the line where she was unable to convert the free throw.
Not to be forgotten, Baker sank another 3-pointer with 2:40 left in the second quarter. At 1:55, and after grabbing a rebound Knapp went in for a bucket. She got in the books again a minute later with another two points. Hume's Megan Sutcliffe scored two with 37 seconds left on the clock, followed by Braonugh center Katey Rider finishing the half with a lay-up.
Braonugh led 29-16 at halftime.
Following intermission, the teams traded point-for- point, building the score to 33-18 at the 4:48 mark when Mandy Murphy's charitable donation from the line kicked off a 7-1 run ending at 2:40 when Amanda Raper put Bronaugh's final points in for the quarter.
Hume spent the last two and a half minutes regaining lost ground as two shots found the net, and two free throws were converted. Bronaugh held a 40-25 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Hume rallied for 13 points in a foul heavy fourth while holding Bronaugh's scoring to just five. Hume's first trip to the line was a mere twelve seconds into play when Karlee Metcalf converted both shots for two points. Thirty seconds later, Murphy posted Bronaugh's last points from the field with 7:15 to go in the game.
Hume went to the line three times, and Bronaugh once before Mumma put in a two point field goal at 3:07 with the score sitting at 43-32 in favor of Bronaugh. Sutcliffe and Mumma were the last to score for Hume, with just under two minutes remaining in regulation.
Hume had narrowed the lead to seven points at the 1:30 mark, but multiple turnovers led Bronaugh to convert late points off three trips to the line. Hume only managed two points out of two trips to the line. Mumma put the game's final point in with a free throw with 18 seconds on the clock.
The fourth quarter saw five timeouts and twelve trips to the charity stripe. At the buzzer, the scoreboard read 46-39 in Bronaugh's favor.
Freshman Knapp finished with a team-high 10 points while Baker and Raper chipped in with nine points apiece. Taylor Stratford finished with seven points, Rider six, and Murphy with five.
For Hume, Mumma poured in a game-high 25 points. Sutcliffe finished with nine points, Metcalf and Hannah Gorda went home with two points each, and Malia McFrederick with 1.
Boys game
The Hornets started the evening at a disadvantage being a man short and outnumbered thirteen to five. as Hume's Ethan Spencer was out with an injury. Hume entered the season with only six available players on its roster.
Bronaugh however, only played seven players as they successfully defended their home-court on homecoming. After a valiant effort from both teams, Bronaugh emerged victorious, 58-43.
Bronaugh center Cole Diggins opened the game for the Wildcats with three points just nine seconds in, scoring two from field and one from the charity stripe. Scoring was stagnant until Bronaugh's Joe Mader hit a 3-pointer with just under six minutes to play in the first quarter.
Hume got on the board at 5:43 with two points plus a free throw from freshman guard Kolby Steuk, to close the gap to 6-3. Wildcats forward Tyler Strunk scored his first points midway through the first quarter, followed by Hume's Tyler Clark a minute later with his first two.
Diggins recorded the next five points. Strunk logged two more points with 35 seconds left in the first quarter and another two at the buzzer.
Bronaugh wrapped up the first quarter with commanding 17-5 lead. Hume dominated the first half of the second quarter as Steuk, Ryan Reno, and Dakota Thornburg each dropped in two points apiece, closing the gap to 17-11.
Strunk got back into the scoring column with 3:08 on the clock logging two points, while teammate Justin Hudson followed with a basket a minute later.
Hume trailed 25-14 at halftime.
The third quarter got off to an exciting start when Hudson launched and hit a 3-pointer just 10 seconds into play. Hume rallied for five quick points which included a 3-pointer from Hume point guard Blake Lewis.
Bronaugh closed out the third quarter on 9-5 spurt. Each team scored a 3-point field goal, the Wildcat's coming just 10 seconds before the buzzer. Going into the fourth quarter, Bronaugh held a comfortable 41-28 lead.
After trading a pair of baskets early in the fourth, Lewis knocked down a trey to bring Hume within 10 points of the lead at 43-33.
Disaster then struck when Thornburg fouled out of the game at the five minute mark leaving only four Hornets on the court. Despite being outnumbered, Hume found the net four more times before the buzzer, two of those via Steuck and Lewis 3-pointers. Hume however, was unable to get any closer.
For Bronaugh Strunk finished with a team-high 19 points. Diggins followed with 15, while Hudson added 12, and Mader with five.
For Hume, Lewis led the way with a game-high 20 points, Steuck followed with 10 points, and Thornburg nine. Tyler Clark and Ryan Reno both got on the board with two points apiece.