Midway through the third period, things didn’t look very good for the Alliance girl’s basketball squad in a home good against North Platte. Alliance trailed 26 to 8 in a ball game played on Friday. Slowly, the Dogs began to rally. The hosts would close the gap to one in the final seconds but a shot at the buzzer for a comeback win was no good as the guests held on for a 39 to 37 win. With the loss, the Lady Bulldogs drop to 1 and 2 for the year. North Platte also got a win in the JV contest played earlier. The visiting Dogs down Alliance 35 to 18. Alliance had 2 players ending in double figures. They were led offensively by Reese Armstrong who closed with 12 points while Hannah Benzel added 10.
A seven to zero spurt by NP midway thru period one gave the guests the early advantage. North Platte led 6 to 2 early on with the hosts getting 2 Armstrong free throws to start their scoring. Following a deuce by Armstrong, the visitors went on a big spree to surge ahead 13 to 4 with under two minutes remaining in the quarter. The first closed with a score from Alliance’s Giselle Gonzalez and AHS down 13 to 6.
Nothing fell for the hosts in the second. Alliance went scoreless while the guests added to their lead with 8 tallies. Three free throws, a two pointer, and a three ball by North Platte made it 21 to 8 at halftime.
Alliance’s best scoring of the affair was in the third. Benzel came off the Alliance bench spark the outburst. The Bulldog sophomore tallied 8 points in the quarter to began a comeback. A three by North Platte started the scoring. It was followed by a score by Armstrong and another 2 by NP. Down 18, Alliance scored the game’s next 7 points. Armstrong nailed a 3 and Benzel went four for four from the line as the hosts closed to 26 to 15. After 2 free throws by NP, the hosts got back to back buckets by Benzel and Olivia Krejci to make it 28 to 19 with under 2 minutes left in the period. Quarter #3 came to a conclusion with a hoop by North Platte, 2 free throws by Alliance’s Addison Weber, and a basket by Benzel. Heading to the fourth, AHS was down 30 to 23.
The teams would swap scores at the beginning of the finale. Alliance got tallies by Brooke Bailey, Benzel, and Krejci to make things interesting. Down 6 at 35 to 29, a steal and lay up by Bailey got the Dogs to within 4 with three minutes left to play. Three throws by NP and a Bailey free throw made it 38 to 32 with under two minutes remaining. A huge Armstrong three brought the crowd to their feet as the hosts pulled to within 3 with one minute of action left. Misses at the free throw line by North Platte then gave the hosts a chance. With under 30 seconds left, a basket by Krejic made it 38 to 37. Alliance then fouled and one good free throw by the visitors had the board read North Platte 39 Alliance 37. A final three by the hometown Bulldogs was no good at the buzzer as the guests held on for the 2 point win.
NP 13 8 9 9 39
ALL 6 0 17 14 37
Scoring for Alliance Weber 2 Bailey 5 Armstrong 12 Krejci 6 Gonzalez 2 Benzel 10
Alliance will head to South Dakota on Saturday with games against Hot Springs.