Basketball Teams Play On The Road

A nearly two week hiatus from the competitive basketball court provided a challenge for the Hawk boys team, as they descended upon the Jordan Mustangs last Friday, then traveling to Melstone on Saturday.

The long break between games and the opponents' penchant for running a 2-3 zone against Broadus, which the Hawks have had difficulty against, made for a competitive game against Jordan. In addition, the Hawks' lackluster shooting from the freethrow line (10 for 22), and high turnover numbers (20) caused the game to be very close, as the Hawks won 48-46.

Broadus led 15-8 after the first quarter, falling behind in the second before regaining the lead going into the locker rooms. They once again fell behind in the third, but then led by as many as 9 points in the early fourth quarter, with Jordan pulling closer as the buzzer sounded.

"We had a hard time finishing it out," Broadus Head Coach Dustin Lanke spoke of the close win. "Only scoring 7 points in the 4th quarter will do that."

Despite the close game and perhaps overly critical look at the stats, Broadus still remains at the head of the conference, and with the win against Jordan the Hawks sealed a first place seed at the District Tournament, with one weekend left in the regular season. All other teams in the conference have at least four losses, and with no more than two conference games left on the schedule for any team, Broadus is assured a conference title.

Paysen Kuhbacher had a nice night against Jordan, with 9 points, while Cooper Zimmer had 10, Dillon Gee 14, and Marcus Mader led the Hawks in scoring with 15.

On Saturday the Hawks faced off against perennial rival Melstone. In their first meeting at the Hawk Quonset in mid-January, Broadus lost in a low scoring 36-49 affair. This time around Melstone upped their offensive game, while Broadus continued to struggle offensively.

Melstone came out and hit three early 3-pointers to take the lead, and though Broadus kept the score close and even tied it up early in the third quarter, Melstone's steady gameplay put up a 60.5% effective shooting percentage, while Broadus shot only 33.7%, going 3 of 25 from beyond the arc.

Melstone won the game 59-40.

On Monday night the Hawks played at Plevna, in a game rescheduled from January due to poor driving conditions.

Plevna's Gyme Kelly, who had scored 42 and 36 points in his last two games, was shut down by the Hawk defense, only scoring 7 points in the 75-31 Broadus win.

The Lady Hawks played well against Jordan in their first meeting this season, beating the Lady Mustangs 40-38 at home. The second time around, last Friday in Jordan, the Lady Hawks played some of their best basketball of the season once again, according to Broadus Head Coach Ashley Emmons.

"They are starting to get the chemistry back that they had in the first couple weekends of the season, and it's the perfect time for the team to start start peaking," she commented on Monday.

The game stayed close through the first half, with Broadus leading 24-22 after the second quarter, but the Lady Hawks pulled away in the second half, leading by as much as 11 in the third quarter, and eventually winning 56-51.

"It's always a physical game when we play Jordan. The girls were ready and stepped up to the challenge," Emmons said of the win. The game was a physical match indeed, as Emma Isaacs left the game after a fall to receive stitches above her eye – Isaacs returned to the court the next night against Melstone.

Mia Mader led the Lady Hawks in scoring against Jordan with 14 points, and the Broadus team led in most offensive categories in the conference win.

On Saturday at Melstone, the Lady Broncs' strong shooting game proved to be too much for Broadus, as Melstone sank eleven 3-pointers, with all but two as contested shots, hitting 46% of their 3-point shots. Melstone went out to an early lead and maintained it throughout the game to win 60-43.

Despite the loss, bright spots for the Lady Hawks included a healthy rebound advantage of 32 to 24, and Broadus scored 34 points in the paint to Melstone's 14.

Abi Krantz led the Lady Hawks in scoring with 15.

Emmons commented on the game: "It's good to see a team that puts in so much time in the summer and the girls can see the difference in a team that shoots well vs a team that shoots great - it gives [our team] motivation to put in the time during the summer to become great shooters."

On Monday, the Lady Hawks beat Plevna 64-26.

As Broadus looks ahead towards the last weekend of the season with a home game against Wibaux on Friday and a trip to Ekalaka on Saturday, the conference is shaping up in the last few games of the season. If Broadus beats Wibaux, the Lady Hawks will go into the District Tourney as the number 2 seed behind Ekalaka. If Wibaux wins, Broadus would end up as the number 3 seed due to Wibaux holding the tie-breaker.