Mitchell came to town Saturday to play the Alliance girls in a pair of basketball contests. A late fourth quarter comeback by the hosts enable the Bulldogs to get their first victory of the season, besting the Tigers 41 to 39 in a real thriller. With the win, Alliance goes to 1 and 1 on the varsity level. Alliance also got the W in the early JV match up, downing the guests 43 to 25 for their first win on the year. Down by 4 heading to the fourth, the hosts outscored Mitchell 13 to 7 in getting the victory. Freshman Reese Armstrong paced the Alliance offense with 16 points while senior Addison Weber added 8. Weber had a pair of three pointers in the second half to help with the comeback.
Early on it was the Tigers making the plays. Mitchell raced to an early 11 to 3 lead. Alliance would get a Brooke Bailey free throw and 2 from the charity stripe by Armstrong during the spree. Back to back hoops by Weber and Armstrong later in the quarter helped the Bulldogs get close at 11 to 7. The period ended with Tiger free throws and one by Armstrong. After one quarter of action, AHS was down 13 to 8.
Six tallies by Armstrong in the second kept Alliance in the ball game. The Dogs were stingy on D in the period as the Tigers were held to just 5 tallies. Baskets by Olivia Krejci and Armstrong along with a free throw by Maslin Breen cut the Dog deficit to 15 to 13. Down 5 in the last stages of the half, Alliance got back to back baskets by Armstrong to get close. Mitchell took an 18 to 17 lead to half.
Alliance relied on the three pointer in the third to start a comeback. Treys by Weber, Paz Cody, and Armstrong lead the way. Play began with a score by Bailey. A three ball by Weber continued the scoring. At the 2 minute mark and down by by 6, Cody nailed a three as the Dogs clawed back to within 3. The battle then was tied at 28 thanks to a trey by Armstrong. Mitchell countered with 4 points in a row to end the period with Alliance trailing 32 to 28.
Quarter #4 started with a free throw by Brinlee Lanik and another 3 by Weber. Down 34 to 32, Alliance took the lead with Bailey scoring 4 straight. Another good free throw by Lanik plus a hoop by Armstrong helped Alliance surge ahead 39 to 34 at the 2 minute mark. Following a Tiger score, Krejci scored that kept the Bulldog margin at 5. Mitchell answered with a trey to pull within 2 at 41 to 39 with just seconds left. After a turnover by the Bulldogs, the visitors had one more chance. The Tiger’s attempt for a tie was no good as the hosts held on for the 2 point win.
MIT 13 5 14 7 39
ALL 8 9 11 13 41
Scoring for the Lady Bulldogs Weber 8 Cody 3 Bailey 7 Armstrong 16 Lanik 2 Krejci 4 Breen 1
North Platte comes to town on Friday. The Dogs will go to Hot Springs on Saturday.