BETHANY — Bethany turned fourth-quarter stops into points for a 74-59 win over Class A fifth-ranked Southwest Covenant Thursday (Dec. 18).

After building a 21-12 lead in the first quarter, the Bronchos held on to a 1-point lead at half as Patriot senior Gunner Starnes scored 11 of his 14 points in the second quarter.

In the third quarter, Bethany sophomore Breck Brady scored nine points to extend the lead to four points (49-45).

The Bronchos, ranked 13th in 4A, pulled away in the fourth, extending the lead to 10 points for much of the quarter.

Leading 60-49, Bethany got a defensive stop and a Brady rebound. The Bronchos went to the break. Senior Seth Greiner passed it downcourt to junior Malachi Chatman, who zipped a pass to Denton Jaggers who was cutting to the basket. The senior got the bucket through contact and a Patriot foul.

Jaggers sank the free throw to make it 63-49 with 2:57 left in the game.

The two teams traded points the rest of the way. The Bronchos were 8-of-12 from the free throw line in the final period.

“Just great poise by our kids,” Bethany coach Josh Holliday said via text. “Didn’t flinch, executed down the stretch, weathered the storm and got the stops we needed to win. Got a lot to learn from moving forward but being able to win through the learning is always a good sign.”

Brady finished with a game-high 26 points. He was 7-of-10 from the line.

Jaggers added 21 points, nine of which came in the final period. Jaggers was 7-of-8 from the line.

Sophomore Dempsey Neal had 10 points. He scored all of his points (including two 3-pointers) in the second and third quarters when Bethany was weathering a surge from Southwest Covenant.

Starnes finished with 14 points when he fouled out in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Fletcher Niles also scored 14 points for the Patriots.

UP NEXT

Bethany travels to Harding Charter Prep for a 5 p.m. game with the Eagles.

Harding Charter (5-3) lost to Crossings Christian, 68-62, Monday.

	1	2	3	4	F
Southwest Covenant (6-2)	12	22	11	14	59
Bethany (6-2)	21	14	14	25	74