Davenport holds on for win over LRS

RITZVILLE-After jumping out to an early lead, Davenport held on to defeat the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague/Washtucna/Harrington Broncos 55-49 in a NE2B girls basketball matchup Friday, Jan. 14.

At the opening tip-off, the Lady Gorillas slapped their full-court press on LRS, wreaking havoc on the Broncos each time they brought the ball up court. Their trapping defense resulted in several turnovers that led to a dominant first quarter performance.

In the opening quarter the Broncos made two free throws and converted only one of their 10 shot attempts. Emalie Jacoby fueled the Lady Gorillas' offense with seven first quarter points en route to an 18-4 lead at the end of the period.

LRS freshman Zoe Galbreath found her shooting touch in the second quarter, hitting three buckets. Her efforts, however, were not enough to put a dent in Davenport's lead.

Behind Jacoby's five points, and four points each from Glenna Soliday and Clare Lathrop, the Lady Gorillas went into the locker room ahead 31-16.

In the third quarter Davenport looked unlike the team that played the first half. The Gorillas threw up 24 shots, making only two. Their tepid shooting allowed LRS to claw its way back into the game behind the shooting of Galbreath and Claire Wellsand, who combined for nine points.

At the end of the third quarter Davenport maintained a 35-29 advantage.

"We played horribly in the third quarter," Davenport head coach Stacia Soliday said.

The game's final period featured the dominant inside play of Lathrop, Davenport's 6'3" freshman who turned offensive rebounds into points. She scored eight points in the final minutes of the game.

Jacoby added seven fourth quarter points. Each team scored 20 points in the final period, but the Lady Gorillas held on for the 55-49 win.

Jacoby led Davenport scorers with 19 points, followed by Soliday and Lathrop who each had 12. In addition, Lathrop pulled down 13 rebounds.

"Overall, we played pretty good, but we fell apart at the end," Jacoby said. "Defensively, especially our press, worked well most of the night."

Galbreath kept the Broncos in the game scoring a game high 22 points. Raegan Snider and Harlee Hennings scored seven and six points, respectively.

"I thought we overcame a pretty slow offensive start," LRS head coach Bryce Court said. "We battled back after facing some adversity. A lot of players got in foul trouble, but players stepped up into roles they're not used to. We cut it to one point, but they hit some big shots. After that we couldn't close the gap. But I was proud of the way we played."

Davenport improved its record to 7-3 and LRS dropped to 1-6 in NE2B play.

"We had a bad first quarter, but we kept fighting," LRS's Galbreath said. "In the second half we focused on winning possessions and making smarter decisions. We need to work on getting the ball to the open person and improve our shooting."

Reardan girls snap three-game losing streak

The Reardan girls basketball team beat the struggling Broncos by a wider margin than Davenport did. The Screaming Eagles traveled to Ritzville and won comfortably 41-27 Tuesday, Jan. 17.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak that included losses to Northwest Christian, St. George's and Liberty.

Reardan improved to 5-10 with its victory over LRS and hosts Asotin at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20.