Oh brick! Buffs shooting woes haunt them in loss; girls finally heat up
Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-In their first four games, Jacy Holloway’s team shot with plenty of confident. On Friday night against No. 7 Wichita Trinity, that pure stroke was nothing more than a prayer that unfortunately wasn’t answered.
Mitchell List scored 12 points and hit two backbreaking triples in a furious fourth-quarter run that saw the Knights turn a four-point deficit into a 48-37 runaway on day two of the Southwest Classic at the Garden.
“We just couldn’t hit anything,” Holloway said after the game. “Nothing was falling. And we didn’t play with any sense of urgency.”
That was the case in the first six minutes, when Wichita Trinity (2-1) hit four of their first five 3-pointers to take a 12-2 advantage. But the Buffaloes stormed back, closing the half on a 16-6 run to tie the game 18 at the break.
“We finally settled in after that rocky start,” Holloway said. “But Trinity is a good team. We knew they had the firepower to do what they did.”
The spurt continued in the third, and Caleb Tramp’s layup 30 seconds into the period gave the Buffaloes their first lead 20-18. But they could never break away, thanks in large part to a 7-of-26 shooting effort in the second half.
Meantime, the Knights were just heating up. And Drew Thornton’s triple two minutes into the fourth, gave Wichita Trinity a lead they never relinquished. In fact, that trey ignited a 25-10 run over the final six minutes to help the Knights pull away.
Tyler Burns, who already has an offer to play football at Kansas State, scored nine points for Wichita Trinity, including five big free throws in crunch time.
Tramp led the way for the Buffaloes (3-2) with 13 points and nine rebounds. Jared Koster scored eight points, but was just 2-of-16 from the field and 0-for-9 from downtown. As a team, Garden City shot just 31 percent on 15-of-49. The Knights were 13-of-28, including 7-of-17 from deep.
Wichita Trinity outrebounded the Buffaloes 25-22 and won despite turning the ball over 19 times.
Next up: Garden City vs. No. 1 Holcomb-Saturday, December 13 7:30 p.m. on 99.9 FM; kwkrmobile.com and mobile app: KWKR
Dart finds the touch; Lady Buffs pull away
Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-Trying to make one of his best players more comfortable, Garden City coach David Upton changed things up before Friday night’s game. He moved Abbie Dart from the point to the wing, and judging by the final numbers, that adjustment paid enormous dividends.
The sophomore broke out of an 8-of-40 shooting slump, knocking down four 3-pointers and finishing with a career-best 22 points as Garden City strolled to a 54-36 victory over Wichita Trinity at the Garden.
“She (Dart) made me look like a genius,” Upton said afterwards. “We knew it was only a matter of time, and tonight definitely proved that.”
Dart was sizzling from the jump, connecting on her first four shots as Garden City raced out to an 11-0 lead. Only on two occasions did that cushion ever dip below double digits. In fact, the Lady Knights (1-2) didn’t score their first point until the 3:17 mark of the first quarter.
“It was a much better effort tonight,” Upton said. “It was all the way around.”
Alexis Elliott had her best game as a varsity player, pouring in 10 points and snagging seven rebounds. Jessica Carrillo, coming off the 24-point performance Thursday vs. Pueblo East, scored 15 and pulled down nine boards.
Caroline Zielke was the only Wichita Trinity player in double figures with 10.
Garden City’s largest lead was 20 (47-27) with 6:28 remaining in the fourth. They shot 44 percent on 18-of-41 from the floor and connected on a season-high four 3-pointers. The defense limited the Knights to just 14-of-43 shooting. It was the third time this season that Upton’s club held an opponent to less than 40% shooting.
Next up: Garden City vs. Holcomb-Saturday, December 13 5:45 p.m. pregame; 6 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; kwkrmobile.com and mobile app: KWKR
