Boone Central defeated Alliance 55 to 48 in the championship game of a boy’s holiday tournament played Saturday in Broken Bow. The Bulldogs fell behind late in the first quarter and were never able to muster a comeback. With the loss, Alliance now sees their record slip to 6 and 3 for the season.
Back to back Bulldog three pointers is how the contest started. A trey by Espen Lanik began the Alliance scoring and it was followed by a three by Payton Boyer as the Dogs drew first blood at 6 to 0. The Cards answered right back with 11 consecutive points to go up 11 to 6. Ahead 17 to 11 later in the battle, Boone got a three of their own to move ahead 20 to 11. The teams would trade tallies in the second with the Bulldogs continuing to trail. Albion took leads of 22 to 17, 24 to 20, and finally 27 to 20.
In the third with AHS trailing by 10, a three ball by Bulldog senior Seth Meyring sliced the Alliance deficit to 7. Boone responded with a three of their own to make the score 38 to 28 in favor of the Cardinals. The fourth saw a back and forth affair with both teams hitting big shots. An Albion 3 increased the BC lead to 46 to 34. Boyer answered right back with a triple of his own. Then the Bulldog senior had a steal and a score as Alliance pulled within 7 at 48 to 41 with under 3 minutes left. Boone though was up for the challenge by registering the game’s next 5 points to surge ahead 53 to 41. With 55 seconds left, a three by Alliance’s Lexton Salcido closed the gap to 9 but plays down the stretch by Boone Central stopped the Dog rally. Final Boone 55 Alliance 48.
Team stats showed the Bulldogs finishing with 34 rebounds 8 assists and 7 steals
On Friday January 4, Alliance will host Sidney. Then on Saturday January 5, Pine Bluffs comes to Alliance.