GCHS girls earn first win; boys get blown out at home
Girls
Garden City, KS-(westernkansasnews.com)-When Matt Pfeifer was hired back in the spring, most people expected it would take time for the Garden City girls to find their rhythm.
Three straight losses to start the season reaffirmed those beliefs. But finally, on a late fall Thursday night, it all came together for the Buffaloes. And they looked good doing it.
Abbie Dart scored 10 of her game-best 19 points in the first quarter, Alyssa Long added 10, and Garden City notched their first win of 2016 with a 46-35 victory over Purcell at the Garden.
“This feels a lot better than the first three,” Pfeifer admitted afterwards. “But we still have to learn how to play with a lead.”
Garden City (1-3) controlled the game from the start, jumping out to an 11-2 advantage thanks to Dart’s back-to-back triples. The senior wasn’t finished, adding a jumper and two free throws in the second quarter to give the Buffaloes a 12-point halftime lead.
“We played within ourselves tonight,” Pfeifer said. “All I ask is that each game we learn from the last. We did that in this game.”
That lead swelled to as many as 16 midway through the third quarter before the Buffaloes went ice cold. And it nearly cost them.
“It’s fine when we don’t score as long as we are playing defense,” Pfeifer said. “But when we are giving up runs, that’s a problem.”
Lexi Hogan’s layup with 4:10 left in the third was the last Buffalo bucket for the next 5:30. Purcell (3-1) countered with 10 straight points, and all of the sudden Garden City’s once insurmountable lead was down to six.
“It’s all part of the process,” Pfeifer added. “We got a little stagnant offensively during that stretch.”
Aerianna Stinemetz ended the drought with a bucket nearly 90 seconds into the final period. Alyssa Long followed with a 3-pointer, and the Buffalo lead was back to 11 with 5:55 remaining.
“I loved how we responded in certain situations,” Pfeifer said. “That showed a lot of maturity.”
But the Dragons would not go away. Twice in the final two minutes, Purcell got as close as six. But a critical turnover and Hogan’s block of a Cady Wolleberg layup preserved the brown and white’s first win of the season.
Haylee Swayze scored the first 11 points for the Dragons before finishing the night with 18. Webb missed her first nine shots before getting going in the second half. She tallied 11.
The Buffaloes shot a season best 50 percent from the floor (18-of-36), which ended a 16-game streak of shooting under 40. It was the first time since Dec, 2015 that Garden City accomplished that feat.
Next up: Garden City vs. Palmer Ride, CO-Friday, Dec. 9-5:45 p.m. pregame; 6 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and mobile app: KWKR
Boys
Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-As a junior, Austin Nation was the fourth leading scorer on a Purcell squad that won 17 games. Move forward a calendar year, and the senior guard is a hot commodity; especially after pulling off his best Steph Curry impersonation on Thursday night.
Nation drilled six treys in the first half; the Dragons splashed home nine of them as a team, and Purcell torched Garden City 68-50 at the Garden on the first day of the Southwest Classic.
The Buffaloes dropped to 0-4 for the first time since 2004.
“It’s disappointing because we didn’t practice the way we played tonight,” Garden City Coach Jacy Holloway said. “We are a lot better than that.”
In Holloway’s defense, nobody was stopping Nation or the Dragons 3-point assault in the first half.
Nation hit his first triple 10 seconds into the contest; then hit another one two minutes later before finishing off his first-quarter hat trick-nailing his third from downtown to give Purcell (4-0) a 16-8 advantage.
“We saw him (Nation) shoot in pregame and he didn’t miss,” Holloway said. “We told our guys to watch him, and he still made them.”
Purcell hit 5-of-9 shots in the first quarter and were 4-of-7 from deep. And they kept their foot on the accelerator in the second.
Nation hit three more triples before halftime; his last gave the Dragons their biggest lead of the first half 37-20 with 55 seconds left in the second period. It was a perfect shot from the right wing, and as the ball splashed through the net, Nation extended out his shooting hand to let the crowd know he was feeling it.
“Our defense wasn’t close,” Holloway said. “And our offense couldn’t get anything going.”
Garden City shot just 33 percent in the first half and 35 for the game (18-of-52). It was their fourth straight game shooting under 40 percent this season.
“The shots will eventually fall, but it’s more than that,” Holloway said. “When guys aren’t getting open; when players aren’t setting screens for their teammates, it makes it tough.”
The Dragons came back down to earth in the second half, but it didn’t matter because Garden City could never find a groove offensive. They connected on only three field goals over the first 10 minutes of the second half.
“Guys have to figure it out,” Holloway added.”
Garrett Doll, who scored the Buffaloes first five points, finished the night with 14 but was just 4-of-13 from the floor. Freshman Carlos Acosta, whose buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter pulled the Buffaloes to within five, tallied 10 as did Zac Karlin.
Riley Hamilton scored 14 for Purcell, who improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2011. Brady Barrett chipped in 13 and nine boards while Jack Scrutchins netted 11.
Next up: Garden City vs. Palmer Ridge, CO-Friday, Dec. 9-8 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and mobile app: KWKR
