The AHS boy’s basketball team knew heading into the district tournament that they could play with any team in the district, and they knew they had the drive to.  The season was a memorable one, as Alliance fought adversity and continued to fight, despite many setbacks from injuries, as well as various games where shots just couldn’t fall. The boys never gave up, continued to work hard, and towards the end of the season, they showed the whole district the team that they really were. Heading into the district tournament as the number four seed, the Bulldogs were slated to play the McCook Bison in the first round of the district tournament.

Alliance traveled to McCook and used a strong first half, followed by a dominating performance by Senior Jordan Mills. The Bulldogs cruised to a 52-38 victory. Mills lead all scorers that game with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Mills would post back-to-back double doubles in the district tournament. “I thought the McCook game was a solid effort,” said Mills, “It was definitely fun to play and get a victory.” The win advanced the Bulldogs to the second round of the B-6 District tournament where the Dawgs faced the 20-3 #1 seed Sidney Red Raiders.

Heading into a packed gym, The Alliance Bulldogs put on quite a show. Jumping out to a 19-15 lead after the first quarter. Sidney would heat up in the second quarter, taking a 23-31 lead into halftime. “I knew going into halftime that we were fine, we were going to beat them,” said Mills. Sophomore Jack Matulka took over in the third quarter scoring six consecutive points to lead the comeback to take a lead over Sidney mid way through the third. A shot at the buzzer by Mills gave Alliance a 40-39 lead heading into the final quarter. After a short Sidney run, the Bulldogs took the lead off a Mills bucket with 3:30 left to play, and never gave the lead up again. With 23 seconds remaining, Sidney would bring the game within three with a 53-50 score. Sophomore Kyle King hit two free throws to ice the game and Alliance completed the upset with a 56-50 win. Jordan Mills lead all scorers with 26 points and10 rebounds. The win set up a showdown the next night with the #2 Scottsbluff Bearcats.

In a packed gym in Scottsbluff the Bulldogs prepared for their first District championship game in at least five years. The Scottsbluff gym was at capacity nearly an hour before tipoff. After a slow start, King and Mills hit back-to-back-to-back three pointers to give Alliance a 20-15 lead after one quarter. Scottsbluff’s sharp shooting heated up in the second quarter and evened the game at 29 heading into halftime. Scottsbluff would come out of the gates hot after halftime and never give up the lead again. Leading Alliance by eight, 38-46 heading into the final quarter. The Bulldogs would cut the lead to four, but the Bearcats would not relinquish the lead and Scottsbluff would claim their fifth consecutive District Championship. Alliance would take runner up. The final score was 48-62 with Scottsbluff advancing to state, ending Alliance’s season. Jordan Mills again led scores with 23 points.

Alliance finished the season with a record of 10-14. With only two seniors departing, the young team shows a lot of promise in the years to come. Mills was proud of the improvement the team showed. “I thought the overall season was good, we improved a lot throughout the year and we finished strong.” Seniors Jordan Mills and Cody Robinson will both be greatly missed. Mills leaves Alliance with over 1,000 career points, and many memories. Robinson will be attending Nebraska Wesleyan to play football and run track, while Mills has not decided on his college choice yet, but he plans to play basketball. The district run was one to remember, and should be used as motivation, the Bulldogs will be back next year, that is something that for sure is a safe bet.