Bronaugh girls defeat Montrose at home, 30-19

Bronaugh's Martell Moore looks for a shot over Montrose's Natalie Collins during Friday's game at Bronaugh High School.

By Greg Kepler

Special to the Daily Mail

The Bronaugh Lady Wildcats celebrated the 2014 Homecoming with a decisive victory over the Montrose Lady Blue Jays in a Golden Valley Vernon County Conference matchup Friday night. A nearly-packed gym cheered both teams.

A slow start saw the visiting Lady Jays strike first. With 6 minutes, 7 seconds showing in the opening period, Montrose took the lead on an early free throw and led, 1-0. That was the last time they would sport a lead on the host team.

Coach Sean Crane's team used a very conservative offense, often keeping the ball in the perimeter for extended periods, waiting for an opportunity to move the ball into the paint. At 5:10, Martell Moore connected on a baseline jumper, putting the Lady Wildcats on top, 2-1.

A minute later, she connected with a 3-pointer and the score was 5-1, at the end of the first period. She hit a deuce and a trey in the second quarter and the home team took a 7-4 lead to the locker room.

With just over 5 minutes left in the third period, Montrose tied the game at 7-7 on the second half of a one-and-one by Joyce Jurgensmeyer. Within a few seconds, Bronaugh's Amanda Raper connected with two and took the lead back, 9-7.

She hit another deuce at 3:35 and Moore followed her with another trey at 3:05, giving the Lady Wildcats a 14-7 lead. At 1:40, Raper slid a turn-around jumper in, extending Bronaugh's lead to nine. With 20 seconds remaining in the third, Moore connected on another trey, giving the Lady Wildcats a 19-10 lea, heading into the game's final 8 minutes.

It was all Bronaugh in the final stanza. With 5:50 showing on the clock, Raper sunk a deuce and followed it with a lay up at the 4:13 mark.

At 2:02, she connected on the second half of a one-and-one, and got a deuce at 1:14. With 33 seconds left, Moore hit another deuce. As the game wound down, she sank one from the charity stripe, giving her team a 30-19 victory.

Moore led all scorers with 16 points in the contest. Raper was close behind with 14.

Next on the schedule for Bronaugh is Monday, when the Lady Wildcats begin play in the Golden City Tournament.