The Mountain Home Bomber Basketball teams closed out the Branson Battle at the Border against the host Branson Pirates with two tough losses.
Parker Huskey had a shot that would have tied the game from the top of the key with 1.4 seconds remaining, but the shot was missed, and the Lady Bombers fell 38-35 at the hands of the Branson Lady Pirates. The Lady Bombers swung out to an early 7-5 lead after the first quarter, and then took a 13-10 lead into the halftime break. Branson, however, tightened up its defense and forced the Lady Bombers into multiple turnovers and turned a three-point deficit at halftime into a two-point lead heading to the fourth quarter. Both teams combined for seven free throws the first three quarters, but in the fourth stanza, it became a battle of free throws, as both teams shot a combined 21 free throws. Branson went 6-8 from the line compared to Mountain Home’s 6-13 effort from the charity stripe in the final.
Branson was led in scoring by Rachel Riveros with nine points. Mountain Home’s Amelia Rucker led all scorers with 12 points.
The Lady Bombers fall to 1-4 on the campaign. Branson moves to 2-1 on the year.
The Bomber boys also lost a close one 53-49 versus the host Pirates. The Bombers got out of the gate quickly with a 15-5 lead at the end of the first quarter on the back of seven points from Ky Bickford and eight points from Braiden Dewey. The Bombers cooled off in the second quarter, as they found themselves down 23-19 at halftime. The Bombers cold streak kept going, as they suddenly saw themselves down 11 points in the third quarter. But to close out the quarter, the Bombers threw an 8-0 run at the Pirates, capped off by a McGee Harris three-pointer at the buzzer and now only trailed the host 36-33. In the final quarter, it was a back-and-forth stanza, as both teams traded buckets, but Mountain Home could never get the stop they needed, and Branson eventually pulled out the victory.
Branson’s Ethan Jones led all scorers with 24 points, 15 of which were in the first half. Mountain Home was paced in scoring by Ky Bickford with 14 points and Braiden Dewey, who played most of the second half with four fouls, finished with 12 points.
Mountain Home falls to 1-4, and Branson improves to 2-1
Both Bomber Basketball squads will play again starting Thursday in the Cabot Christmas Classic.
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