Dateline: January 3, 2008

Broncos defeat highland park to win tournament

By Sandy Anderberg

Twenty-seven boys and girls teams participated in the 2007 Greenbelt Holiday Classic Tournament held at the Clarendon Gymnasium December 27-29, and the Broncos outlasted 13 of them to claim the Championship over Highland Park. 

The 56-54 defeat of the Hornets came after wins over Bible Heritage, Groom, and Stratford.  The Broncos defeated Bible Heritage 107-16 in the first round and bested the Groom Tigers 92-33 after their first win. 

Six players finished in double figures in the Bible Heritage game.  Alton Gaines led with 19, and Johnny Gaines had 18.  Aaron Gordon and Dalton Askew put in 13 each, and Derrick Shelton and Tré Brown added 11 and 10 respectively.  Nathan Gribble had 9, and T.J. Brown finished with 8 while Jadon Thornton had 6. 

The game against Groom had similar results as the Broncos won 92-33.  Four finished in double figures and all players contributed to the win.

Scoring:  Askew 23, J. Gaines 17, A. Gaines 15, T.J. Brown 10, Thornton 8, Shelton 7, Gribble 4, Gordon 4, and Tré Brown 4.

The Broncos faced a good Stratford team in the third round and earned a 56-37 win.  Clarendon began the game with an offensive edge over the Elks in the first quarter.  They continued to play aggressive offense and pumped in 24 points after thr break to secure the win.

Scoring:  T.J. Brown 22, J. Gaines 9, Askew 8, A. Gaines 4, Thornton 4, Gribble 3, Tré Brown 2, Shelton 1, and Stephino McCampbell 1.

The win over Stratford put the Broncos in the Championship game against Highland Park Saturday afternoon.  It went down to the wire, but the Broncos played to a 56-54 win. 

HP jumped out to a seven-point lead, and the Broncos found themselves struggling offensively in the first quarter of play.  But things went their way in the second period as they worked hard to get even with the Hornets.  A three-point shot at the halftime buzzer put both teams at 28 at the break.  Both teams came out fighting after the break and were determined to get the win.  But things went the Broncos’ way as they stayed focused until the end.

“It was good getting back into the flow,” Coach Colby Waldrop said.  “The kids did a good job, and they were really excited.  We got two big wins over two 2A schools.  We’ll keep working hard to prepare for District play.”

Scoring:  T.J. Brown 21, Shelton 18, A. Gaines 10, J. Gaines 2.

“Overall the tournament was a big success,” Waldrop said. “We heard a lot of good comments from several schools, and they want to come back next year.”

The three-day tournament was held at both Bronco Gyms and the Bulldog Gym at Clarendon College.

T.J. Brown was named All-Tournament Most Valuable Player, and Alton Gaines, Derrick Shelton, and Dalton Askew were named to the All-Tournament Team. 

Macy Shadle was the lone Lady Bronco named to the All-Tournament Team on the ladies’ side.

The Lady Broncos played Bible Heritage in the first round and handily defeated them 88-33.  The ladies totally dominated their opponent on both ends of the court, and five players finished in double figures.  Abbie Massingill had 18, Macy Shadle scored 14, Jenci White had 12, Abby Patten finished with 11, and Erin Holland had 10.  Sade Cobb had 8, Janae White had 6, Jill Cornell and Cortnee Thornberry each had 4.

The ladies faced Lockney, who were named the eventual tournament champions, in the second round and were defeated 45-60.  It was slow going for the Lady Broncos as they struggled against the Lady Horns in the second half.

Scoring: Shadle 21, Cobb 8, Massingill 6, Holland 4, Thornberry 4, and Janae White 2.

The ladies took on Hedley in the third round; and despite leading in the first half, they lost to the Lady Owls in overtime 39-44. 

Clarendon led 22-13 at the end of the first half, but allowed their opponent to get back into the game and play to a tie at the end of regulation.

“We played hard in the tournament,” Coach Randy Yelverton said.  “We played well for a half in each of the Lockney and Hedley games.  We need to learn to play under pressure, and we need to pick it up on offense.”

Scoring: Cobb 10, Holland 8, Massingill 8, Jenci White 7, Shadle 4, and Cornell 2.

Both the Broncos and the Lady Broncos will participate in the Claude Tournament January 3-5 and will play at Bushland January 11. 

The Broncos will host Panhandle January 8 at home beginning at 5:00 p.m.