Broncos lose tourney by one point

Meadow didn’t win a tournament they hosted this weekend, but came literally a point away.

The Broncos suffered a devastating 45-46 Bovina loss Saturday night in the championship round of their home tourney after landing an 83-27 win over Cotton Center Thursday followed by 66-37 victory  Friday against Kingdom Preparatory Academy.

The Broncos maintained a small lead over the Mustangs through most of that trophy-determining round with quarterly advantages of 14-12, 24-17 and 36-31, but were somehow down by four in the final seconds when their opponents’ free throws sank and theirs didn’t. They brought the score up to a point behind with eight seconds left on the clock, but unfortunately couldn’t land their rebound attempts in the next seven.

Head Coach Kyle Johnson said that despite a few mistakes and missed free throws, he proud of the Broncos’ efforts.

"I thought the kids played hard, and I liked how they fought at the end of the game to give themselves a chance to win,” he said. "We played well - probably the best we’ve played all season. We’re back to playing Meadow basketball the way we’re supposed to do.”

Scorers included Christian Herrera 0-3 1-2 10, Trey Herrera 4-0 0-3 8, Brandon Flores 3-0 1-2 7, Zach England 2-0 2-4 6, Mason Davila 1-0 4-4 6, Rafael Urias 1-1 5, Adrian Flores 1-0 2 and Alan Estrada 1-0 2.

The Lady Broncos wrapped up the tournament with a close loss of their own, 39-40 to upcoming district opponents Southland.

They were barely ahead of the Lady Eagles going into the final quarter, but fell behind the last couple minutes. Freshman Lexy Silva scored more than half the Lady Broncos’ points, including a three-pointer and six out of 10 free-throw attempts. Reina Garza followed with 6 points.