A very successful weekend came to an end for the Alliance girl’s basketball team Saturday with a 41 to 26 victory over Mitchell. The Bulldogs went 2 and 1 over the 3 day Western Conference tournament played in Gering and Scottsbluff. Alliance took home fifth place in the 8 team tourney with their lone loss coming Thursday to the eventual champs Sidney. With the win, AHS now has a 3 and 16 record on the season. Alliance’s defense was again strong in their matchup with the Tigers. In Saturday’s battle which was played in Scottsbluff, the Dogs shut out Mitchell in the final quarter in posting the win. The Bulldogs also had a nice balance on offense with Macey Seebohm leading the way with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Junior Addison Weber added 9 while Shyla Salcido and Brooke Bailey scored 8 each.
Three pointers would help the Dogs get off to a super start. Alliance got three treys to begin the contest. Weber started the matchup with a 3 ball. Following a bucket by the Tigers, senior Miah Marsteller swished back to back 3s that put the Dogs up 9 to 2. A Mitchell free throw was next but a basket by Salcido gave AHS an 11 to 3 lead midway through the opening period. At the 2 minute stage, the teams traded hoops with the Dogs getting a 2 pointer by Bailey. The quarter came to a close with Alliance out in front 13 to 5.
Mitchell got the better of the Bulldogs in the second. The Tigers put 8 tallies in the score column while holding Alliance to just 3 points. A free throw by Seebohm was the first point in the quarter which made the score 14 to 5. After a Tiger 2, another bucket by Salcido kept AHS ahead by 9. Alliance’s offense then went cold and the momentum went to the Tigers. AHS was shut out in the final 4 minutes of the half as Mitchell started a rally. The Tigers scored the game’s next 6 points and the teams went to halftime with the Dogs up 16 to 13.
Both sides had their best scoring quarter in period #3. Alliance would score 18 points in the third while the Tigers garnered 13. Mitchell took their first lead of the game by scoring the game’s first 5 points of the quarter to surge ahead 18 to 16. A 3 pointer by Weber and a 2 from Salcido stopped the spree and put the Dogs up 21 to 18. Mitchell came back with a goal but the Bulldogs answered with 8 in a row and moved ahead 29 to 20. Free throws by Seebohm, Weber, and Bailey gave AHS a nice lead. Salcido then scored as the Lady Bulldogs increased their advantage to 9 with three minutes left in the quarter. Alliance’s 9 point lead was quickly erased with the Tigers connecting on back to back threes that made the scoreboard read 29 to 26 with under 2 minutes remaining in the quarter. It would be the Tiger’s final points of the game. Period 3 concluded with 3 points by Seebohm and a hoop by Bailey. With 3 quarters in the book, Alliance led 34 to 26.
An impressive 1-3-1 zone defense by the Dogs continued in the fourth. Alliance forced many tough shots by the Tigers who went scoreless in the final 8 minutes of action. On offense, AHS put the game away with 7 points in the period. A free throw by Bailey began the quarter that helped the Dogs go up by 9. With under 4 minutes left to play, a lay up by Weber on a nice out of bounds play gave the Lady Bulldogs an 11 point cushion. Alliance would then get 2 free throws down the stretch by Seebohm and a Bailey bucket in the final seconds to secure the win. Final Alliance 41 Mitchell 26
MIT 5 8 13 0 26
ALL 13 3 18 7 41
Scoring for Alliance Seebohm 10 Weber 9 Salcido 8 Bailey 8 Marsteller 6
The Dogs will be at home on Friday with a game against Scottsbluff.