Garden City earns split vs. Goodland, Girls fall boys battle back in OT
Photo Courtesy of Adam Shrimplin (Shrimplin Photography)
Garden City, KS (WesternKansasNews.com) – On Tuesday night Garden City fought with Goodland to earn a split as the Cowgirls looked every bit the part of the top team in 3A winning 65-47 and the Cowboys pushed the boys to the brink as Garden City hung on 63-55.
Girls Basketball | Goodland Cowgirls 65 Garden City Lady Buffs 47
Garden City knew it would be a tall task quite literally vs. Goodland. The Cowgirls entered the game on a 25-game winning streak dating back to last season’s 3A State Championship. No to mention 4 of their 5 starters sit at 5’10 or taller and their height led the way over Garden City. Despite the scoring being 24-14 at halftime Goodland would pull away over the course of the next two-quarters thanks to their length and full-court pressure.
“I was happy with the effort tonight but ultimately they are a very good team we just didn’t execute in the right moments to give yourself a chance,” said coach Jacob Miller.
The lone bright spot for Garden City in the night was freshman KJ Pinchon who scored a career-high 17 points and also had 4 blocks. “When KJ plays at that high of a level the sky is the limit she is going to continue to get better,” said Miller after the performance.
Garden City drops to (4-7) on the season and has to turn around and face the number 2 ranked team in 5A in the Newton Invitational at 6 pm tonight. Garden City will play a total of 3 games in Newton and all of the games can be heard on 99.9 The Rock.
Boys Basketball | Garden City 63 Goodland 55
Coach Jeff Williamson took a big exhale as the buzzer finally sounded with Garden City on the winning end of the scoreboard over a feisty Goodland team that would not go away. Garden City with a freshly minted 5th rank in 6A came into what would be their last game for a week off their first loss of the season. The first half reflected that as the Buffaloes struggled to get going. They trailed 25-23 after the break but the Cowboys wouldn’t go away in the 2nd half.
Goodland was able to knock down 12 three-pointers compared to just Garden City’s two made threes and they fought and fought but Garden City would switch to man-to-man defense in OT and that would make the ultimate difference.
“I felt like at that moment we couldn’t sit back anymore, we had to attack and I’m glad we did because it paid off,” said Williamson who made the switch on defense and resulted in a 9-0 run that would put away Goodland.
In the win for Garden City Jace Steinmetz scored 19 points, Caleb Wiese had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Jake Underwood scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
The Buffaloes (13-1) are off for a week before welcoming rival Dodge City to The Garden on January 31st.
