Last year, it was a euphoric overtime victory for the home standing Broncs.  This year, it was just more of the same when county 22 makes their way down Snake River Canyon to Afton where the Broncs haven’t won since 1984.

Tyler Schwab scored a game-high 20 points, including five of six from the free throw line down the stretch as the Braves came away with a 64-54 win over their rivals in the 2008 version of the Snake River Shootout.

The Broncs trailed by as many as ten in the first half, but came all the way back early in the third quarter to tie it up at 27.

The lead swelled to as many as 15 in the second half, but a series of steals led to breakaway baskets as the visitors clawed their way back to within six.

In the end, the Braves were steady from the line thanks to Schwab and Brandon Taylor, who was also five of six from the stripe in the second half.  Taylor finished with 15 points, while senior Jon Scherbel notched 11.

For the Broncs, Damon Smith caused trouble in the paint all night long, finishing with a team-high 16 points, while Rob Caesar also made it into double figures with 15 points of his own.

Jordan Ealey for the Braves and Spencer Steele for the Broncs both fouled out late in the fourth quarter.

Although the loss drops the Broncs to 3-6 on the year, they are still 2-0 in their conference and appear to be more than ready to take a stab at the conference title under new first-year head coach, Pete Hoffman.

As for Star Valley, the win moves them to 6-3 on the season with two of those losses coming by three points or less.  Head Coach Mark Taylor and assistant head coach Kade Wilkes has the Braves playing extremely competitive basketball just one season after a 2-18 season which saw the Braves struggle mightily in their transition to the 4A Classification.

The next game for the Braves is a trip to Riverton where they will face both the Wolverines and the Sheridan Broncs in Fremont County.  The next home game for the Braves will take place January 23 against top-ranked Natrona County who went 24-2 a year ago.