Kern Valley’s varsity basketball team along with their coaches pose with the second place trophy they won at the Corcoran Tournament. Submitted photo.
The Lady Broncs varsity girls’ basketball squad made the long trip to face their HDL rival in Bishop. They would come home with the lop-sided 52-33 victory.
Bishop is considered Kern Valley’s league rival. In this case, the Lady Broncs pushed their rivals into the loss column with a dominating win. Having to go on the road and collect the victory is always a challenge for Kern Valley. The first quarter of the games was a tale of two cities. The Lady Broncs started quickly as they scored the first seven points of the contest. Ahead 7-0, Bishop adjusted and got back into the game with a scoring surge. When it was over the Lady Broncs were on the outside looking in. They trailed their opponent 10-8.
It was Kern Valley’s turn to adjust and that is exactly what they did. The Lady Broncs defense stepped up their game as they pressured Bishop at every turn. The Lady Broncos of Bishop would turn the ball over under the pressure that would lead to easy points for Kern Valley. With the limited scoring from Bishop and the Lady Broncs dropping in points, the half time lead for Kern Valley was 23-14. The 15-4 run put them squarely on top as they went to the break.
As the two teams returned to the court, the game resumed the way Kern Valley wanted it. The defense causing Bishop to cough up the ball leading to points in their offensive zone. It was the four made three-pointers that increased the lead to put Kern Valley in a comfortable spot. When the horn sounded to end the third, the scoreboard read 39 for the visiting Lady Broncs and 21 for the home team. Coming down the stretch, the Lady Broncs matched the scoring output by Bishop to maintain the margin and collect the HDL win. Kern Valley scored 13 points in the fourth, while Bishop added 12 points to their total.
Two Lady Broncs would record double-doubles in the game. Jayda Bushling led the team in scoring by pouring in 17 points. She would complete her double-double by grabbing 13 rebounds. Ava Elliott score 11 points. She scored six in the in the second quarter. Her double-double was completed when she grabbed 11 rebounds. Elli Jeans added 12 points, including three from behind the three-point arc. Jessie Bunting contributed nine points, while Leenah Troller hit from three-point land for her three points in the game to capped the scoring for the Lady Broncs.
Bunting grabbed six rebounds, while Jeans pulled down five boards. Bushling handed out five assists to lead the Kern Valley squad. She also was credited with five steals in the contest. Bunting and Elliott recorded a pair of assists apiece, while Jeans dished out one assist. Elliot also recorded five steals, while Naomi Tapia had a pair of steals. Troller had one steal for the Lady Broncs squad.
Head coach Bill Gallis commenting on the game said, “I’m very proud of our girls tonight. We wanted to come in, run the floor, and set the tempo, and I felt we were able to accomplish that. I was especially happy with our outside game—Elli Jeans was huge from beyond the arc. I also liked how we applied pressure and forced them into tough situations. It’s always challenging to come up here and play, but I think we did a great job maintaining momentum throughout the game. I’m looking forward to finishing the first part of our season strong before we head into the Christmas break. The girls played extremely hard tonight and gave a tremendous effort.”
Prior to the game with Bishop, Kern Valley took part in the Corcoran Tournament. They would make it to the championship finals. Unfortunately, for them they would suffer their first setback of the season. The Lady Broncs took on El Diamante to see who would claim the tournament title. The Lady Miners are Division 2 squad, so Kern Valley knew they would have to play their best game.
The two teams played a see-saw first quarter. The Lady Broncs started strong from the gate as they took an early 7-2 lead. El Diamante wen ton a 6-2 run to grab the lead at 9-8. The score was sitting at 14-14 when the Lady Miners scored five unanswered to take the 19-14 lead. Trailing by five, Kern Valley would not quit. They pulled to within four points at 26-22, before El Diamante went on a 10-6 run to send it to halftime. The score at the break was 36-28 for the Lady Miners.
The Lady Broncs continued to battle, but they could not stay with their opponents. They got the score trimmed to 42-38, but then the Lady Miners dug in and opened the offensive floodgates. When all was said and done Kern Valley (8-1, 2-0 HDL) would fall in the title game 65-50.
Bunting was the scoring leader for Kern Valley with 22 points. Bushling recorded another double-double with 16 points and 10 assists. Elliott scored five points, while Troller finished with four. Jeans contributed two points, while Ashley Plante made a free throw for her lone point. Bushling grabbed seven rebounds, while Bunting and Elliott each pulled down six boards. Troller had four rebounds, while Jeans recorded three boards. Plante closed out the board work with one rebound. Jeans also handed out three assists.
Kern Valley began the tournament by beating Golden West 56-35. The dominating start kept the Lady Broncs fueled and it led them to the easy victory. Bunting was the leader of the pack as she recorded a double-double. She scored a team-high 25 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. She also helped out with three blocks and three steals. Elliott helped out in scoring as she added nine points, just missing a double-double of her own. She would grab a team leading 14 rebounds. She also got credit for four steals. Bushling had six points, seven rebounds, nine assists, and six steals for the Lady Broncs. Tapia also scored six points and had a pair of steals. Jeans scored five and grabbed 13 boards. She handed out four assists and had two steals. Wrapping up the scoring for Kern Valley was Troller with three points. She also pulled down four rebounds. Plante was credited with five boards, while Scarlet Russell had three rebounds. Jade Montes had a pair of rebounds and one steal in the game.
Next up for the Lady Broncs was the host team Corcoran. This was the Bushling show as she recorded a triple-double. She led the team to the dominating 68-41 victory. She scored 22 points, pulled down 18 rebounds, and finished off the triple-double by dishing out 11 assists. And she was credited with six steals.
The first quarter saw Kern Valley trailing 17-13 when the horn sounded. Early in the second the score was 20-15. The defense stepped it up as they closed out the Lady Panthers and limited them to just the three points to end the half. The Lady Broncs on the other hand poured in basket after basket as they wen ton a 17-0 streak to put them firmly ahead 32-20 at halftime. This spelled the beginning of the end for the host team. Kern Valley kept pushing forward, while the Lady Panthers wee two steps behind. At the end of the third the Lady Broncs were comfortably ahead 50-26. The fourth was just a formality as Kern Valley added 18 points to their total. With this victory the Lady Broncs knew they were in the championship contest.
Besides the outstanding play by Bushling, other Lady Broncs contributed to the win. Scoring: Bunting 11, Jeans 9, Elliott 9, Troller 7, Tapia 6, McKayla Bachman 2, Jade Montes 2. Rebounds: Elliott 13, Troller 10, Jeans 3, Bunting 3, Plante 2, Montes 1, Emmalyn Bechtel 1, Russell 1, Bachman 1. Blocks: Bunting 4. Assists: Jeans 2, Tapia 1. Steals: Troller 5, Elliott 4.
Kern Valley was supposed to take on Chavez, but were awarded a forfeit victory, Chavez could not field a team to give the Lady Broncs a perfect 3-0 pool play round and seven straight wins to start the season. The 3-0 mark pushed them to the Championship Finals.
Gallis said, “I’m extremely proud of our effort during this tournament. We showed a lot of growth and gained valuable experience throughout the week. The team delivered tremendous individual performances and played outstanding team defense. As we continue to grow, the girls consistently play with great effort and exciting enthusiasm. Competing against these bigger teams is an invaluable part of our progression, and it helps us prepare for the challenges ahead. Now, our focus shifts to improving every day and getting ready for league play.”
Kern Valley took on Boron on the Lady Broncs home court on Friday to get back into HDL action.
