RITZVILLE — With a team full of veteran experience, the Lind-Ritzville Broncos have started the season with an 8-3 record and 4-2 in league contests.

All three losses have come on the road to other teams inside the top 15 of the WIAA’s RPI rankings.

“All of our three losses have been on the road by a total of eight points, two games by three and another by two, all at the end,” Lind-Ritzville Head Coach Dustan Arlt said. “All three games have been against top teams: Burbank, Colfax and Northwest Christian.”

Two of the three losses saw the Broncos carry leads into the fourth quarter, but missed shots late in the game proved costly.

“In a couple of those games we’ve had fourth-quarter leads and just haven’t been able to hit that big shot at the end,” Arlt said. “We get that big stop, and just come up a little bit short. But, we’re right there with all those teams – it’s just a matter of the next time we play, and making us making that play or two that we haven’t yet.”

With a full schedule in January – Lind-Ritzville has 12 slated games this month – the team has battled against fatigue and players missing time with illness.

“Scoring has been a little more of a challenge these last couple of games – Northwest Christian last Friday, we had a tough fourth quarter and lost at the end, and the last few games we’ve looked kind of tired,” Arlt said. “Kids are getting a little bit sick, so it’s a battle and it’s three games a week getting back from Christmas break.”

Even though the losses stacked up over a five-game stretch, Arlt is confident in the Broncos will be able to close out games in the future, as nine of the 14 players on the roster are upperclassmen.

“We’ve got the guys for it to go our way,” Arlt said. “We just have to learn from it, and hopefully motivate us more for the next time and have a little more focus in those fourth quarters and get over the hump in those games.”

Junior Jayce Kelly leads the Broncos in points per game, followed by senior Chase Galbreath. Lately, senior Hunter Dinkins has been contributing more on the offensive side.

“At Northwest Christian last Friday (Kelly) scored 27 points and really gave us a good chance right there,” Arlt said. “Chase Galbreath’s our second-leading scores and he’s been pretty solid and consistent. Hunter Dinkins, the last couple games have been a couple of his better scoring games, so I’m hoping we keep getting that production from him.”

Arlt said the strength of the Bronco unit this season has been its defense, which has allowed an average of 42.6 points per game through 11 games and come up in clutch moments down the stretch.

“It’s really what has kept us in it against those good teams,” Arlt said. “We’re playing good defense; we can mix and match. We have a lot of good options to go over some of the other team’s better players.”

Lind-Ritzville looks to continue its two-game win streak on the road against St. George’s on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

“I want to see that fire we’ve had against some of those better teams to get back,” Arlt said. “These are big games, and we need them. It starts with St. George’s.”

Ian Bivona can be reached via email at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.