In the second round of the Western Conference boy’s basketball tournament the Alliance team squared off with the Tigers of Sterling, Colorado. The Bulldogs lit it up from the three point line but fell short. Sterling made their free throw down the stretch and went on for the 69 to 62 victory. Alliance nailed
fifteen shots from beyond the arc to keep things close but ran out of gas in the end. With the loss the Dogs drop to 5 and 10 for the year. The Bulldogs fell to Sidney in the opening round of the tournament on Thursday night.
Red hot shooting by the Tigers made things difficult for Alliance at the start. The Tigers combined great shooting plus grabbing some offensive boards to dominate play in the opening stages. Alliance fell behind 4 to 0 before a 3 by Tristen Timbers got the Dogs close at 4 to 3. Later in the period a pair of free throws by Bulldog Espen Lanik made the Alliance deficit 6 to 5 at the five minute mark. Alliance then could only muster 6 more points in the quarter thanks to threes by Bert Trevino and Lanik. Meanwhile Sterling continued their shooting, by tallying 15 more first period points. After one period of play Alliance trailed 21 to 11. The Dogs would score 21 points in the second. All were three pointers.
A trey by Dog Seth Meyring began play in period #2. Sterling responded with a free throw before another 3 ball by Lanik cut the Alliance margin to 5 at 22 to 17. Sterling would then go on a mini run, increasing their lead to 10 at the five minute mark. The teams would then trade scores with threes by Timbers and Lanik keeping the Dogs close. A trey by Filippo Bandera pulled the Bulldogs close at 31 to 29 but Sterling answered with a 2 pointers to surge ahead 33 to 29 with under 2 minutes left to play in the half. Lanik’s third three of the half sliced the Sterling advantage to 1 before the half ended with another Tiger trey. At half Alliance was down 36 to 32.
Bandera began the scoring for Alliance in the third with another 3 ball. The Dogs then took their first lead of the game with a hoop by Meyring that gave Alliance a brief lead at 37 to 36. Sterling would score the game’s next 4 points that put the Tigers out in front 40 to 37. Lanik countered with his fourth 3 that tied the score at 40 at the 4 minute mark. Both teams would then tally 8 points each as the score was tied again at 48 with one minute left in the quarter. Scoring for Alliance during that stretch were Meyring and Timbers. A monster trey by Bulldog Jonah Amill gave Alliance a brief lead at 51 to 48. But a three at the buzzer by Sterling finished the period with the score knotted at 51. Both team’s scoring in the opening stages of the fourth came from old fashion three point plays. A three point play by Lanik plus a 2 point bucket by the Alliance Sophomore put AHS ahead 56 to 54 with 6 minutes left. The Tigers then countered with 5 in a row to snag the lead at 59 to 54. A Timbers’ bucket stopped the Sterling run but the Tigers came back with 4 straight to move ahead 62 to 58. A driving score by Meyring reduced the Bulldog margin to 2 at 62 to 60 but it would be as close as Alliance would get. Down the stretch the Tigers would tack on a two pointer plus 2 free throws to move ahead by 6.
Two free throws by Timbers at the 17 second mark gave the Dogs hope but Alliance was then forced to foul. The game ended with Sterling making 3 from the charity strip and the Tigers winning the contest 69 to 62.
ALL 11 21 19 11 62
STER 21 15 15 18 69
Three Bulldogs finished in double figures led by Lanik who closed with 22. Timbers added 16 while Meyring tallied 12. Scoring 6 was Bandera with both Amill and Trevino netting 3 each.