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Bottom-seed Broncos overcome 11 down, Trojan's 27 points
CAMBRIDGE, Neb. — They loved her during club volleyball, but Cambridge senior Brylyn Springer was suddenly disturbing yet inspiring the Wauneta-Palisade girls Tuesday night.
How else can one describe a 13-point first quarter from the 5’10” Trojan post?
“She (Springer) is an animal,” Bronco senior Peyton Cox proclaimed. “She made that first (shot) and I thought ‘Whoa! She’s a pretty strong human.”
Some No. 5 subdistrict seeds would have backed away after falling down 19-10 through just one quarter of this D2-11 semifinal game.
The No. 1 Trojans’ lead even reached double digits — which only meant Wa-Pa’s double trouble was ready to fight back within eight as intermission hit.
“At half, I said ‘guys, we’re not even down double digits’. We’re still in this,” Cox said.
“We’re playing for ourselves, yet we’re also playing for the younger girls so they can gain this experience,” Going added.
What an experience.
From Springer’s 13-point start to only allowing Cambridge 14 points TOTAL after half.
“Part of it we were getting confused in our man defense, so we switched to a zone,” Cox explained.
Yet part was also how feisty the Broncos have become. They rallied on Tuesday not only behind Goings and Cox wth 24 combined points..
Freshman Emma Acton also delivered eight points , McKenna Doetker six and Izzy Stehno another five.
“I love a scoresheet like this with so many getting involved,” coach Matt Cox confirmed. “You have to play with confidence,” the seniors also said.
The No. 1 Trojans (12-10) were always in striking range especially since Springer totaled a game-best 27 points.
Senior Jalen Kent and sophomore Mallory Springer made their own clutch late baskets.
Yet the Broncos were scoring big points in another less trackable area: securing loose basketballs.
“Oh yeah, practice is like that every day,” Goings and Cox both said. “When we were losing a lot of close games in January, we said we have win those 50-50 balls.”
The Broncos did just that, built a 42-37 lead with less than one minute remaining, then held off one final Cambridge comeback try.
“It’s the first time we’ve beaten them in basketball all four years,” the seniors concluded.
They’ve played basketball, volleyball and ran together since Peyton arrived from Hays Center in third grade.
Now they’ll play Dundy County-Stratton — another higher seed at No. 3 — for the D2-11 subdistrict title Thursday night at Cambridge.
Opening tip is 7 p.m. with the winner just one more win from a D-2 state tourney spot.
“One game at a time,” both seniors said.
Especially if it’s fun as Tuesday night.
Cox’s 11 rebounds were a Bronco best while Stehno snagged five. Goings delivered five assists; Cox added five.
Besides Springer’s 27, Kent scored six points and Mallory Springer added five.