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Broncos hold off Jets

Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press Bark River-Harris’ Allison Richer goes up for a layup in front of North Central’s Neveah Hundsrucker during Monday’s game in Powers.

POWERS — The Bark River-Harris girls shot the lights out in the first half, then had to hold off a late second-half charge for a 55-46 road win over North Central Monday night in a Skyline Central Conference basketball game.

The Broncos (7-6, 6-3 SC) hit six 3-pointers in the first half to sprint out to a 35-18 halftime lead.

They led by as many as 20 after a pair of free throws by Riley Arndt made it 43-23 with 1:45 left to play in the third quarter, but the Jets (8-5, 8-4 SC) responded with a 15-0 run to pull within 43-38 on a jumper by Jaiden Fleetwood with 5:14 left in the game.

“We played really good for the majority of the game, then we hit that stretch where we weren’t really sure what we wanted to do on the court,” BR-H coach Matt Richer said. “We were being passive a little bit; we weren’t aggressive like we were in the first half. They switched to a man (defense), and usually we do good against man, but for some reason the pressure got to us a little bit. They were being physical … and I think the physical part bothered us a little bit.”

Makena Lockwood then knocked down a big elbow jumper to put the Broncos back up by seven, igniting a 10-2 run to put the game away.

“Once it got to five, Makena Lockwood made a big shot to put us back up by seven and then it kind of clicked,” Richer said.

“We relaxed a little bit. It wasn’t that we weren’t getting good shots, we just couldn’t get one to fall. They would come down and get a 3, then we’d come down and miss and they’d get another 3. They closed the gap pretty good and I could see our girls tensing up. I had to go back to the starters quicker than I wanted to.

“It’s a quality win though. They’re a good team. They have the quality guards with the (Arsenault) sisters. I’m happy and I’m pleased with the way we played.”

Andie and Bree Arsenault were each playing while under the weather, which limited the Jets offensively. They got a big spark from Chloe Webber, however, as she scored seven of their first 11 points in the 15-0 spurt to get back in the game.

“She did a heck of a job. She played good defense and she’s been shooting better in practice,” Jets coach Lee Vincent said. “We can’t expect Andie and Bree to do all the work. We gotta get scoring from the other people, otherwise (they) just gotta guard two people. We’re working on it and it’ll come around.”

Allison Richer and Cara Zawacki led the Broncos with 13 points each. Zawacki also had four rebounds. Sierra Debelak chipped in 11 points and four assists.

Andie Arsenault led the Jets with 15 points, while Fleetwood added 13 and Webber chipped in 10.

North Central shot 19 for 52 from the field, committed 12 turnovers and held a 22-17 rebounding advantage.

“I’m very proud of all of them,” Vincent said. “They do a great job and they never give up. That’s what I like about them. They play hard no matter whether they’re sick or not. Everyone is bigger than us so we just kind of have to deal with it.”

The Broncos, who won the JV game 44-34, visit North Dickinson Thursday. The Jets host Norway Thursday for Parents’ Night.

BR-Harris 17 18 8 12 — 55

North Central 7 11 11 17 — 46

Bark River-Harris — Fredrick 5, Debelak 11, Lockwood 2, Zawacki 13, Arndt 5, Richer 13, Peterson 6. FT: 11-19; F: 9; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: Debelak 2, Richer 2, Zawacki 1, Fredrick 1.

North Central — Neville 2, Webber 10, Fleetwood 13, Hundsrucker 2, A. Arsenault 15, Pavlat 4. FT: 5-10; F: 18; Fouled out: None. 3-point field goals: A. Arsenault 1, Webber 1, Pavlat 1.

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