Broncbuster women drop two in Texas

ATHENS, TEX. — The Garden City Community College Broncbusters basketball team dropped both games at the Budke/Serna Thanksgiving Classic on Friday and Saturday at Trinity Valley Community College. The Broncbusters fell to Panola (Tex.) on Friday, 67-64 and then 90-54 to No. 15 South Plains (Tex.) on Saturday afternoon.

The Broncbusters and the Fillies were tied at 12 apiece after the first quarter on Friday afternoon. Garden City was red-hot from behind the 3-point arc in the contest, as Jaleah Bellany knocked down three consecutive from outside the arc to spark a 9-0 run to begin the second quarter. Panola responded with an 11-0 run to grab a 25-23 lead with around 3 minutes to go in the first half. Garden City ended the half on a 9-2 run and led Panola 32-27 at halftime.

Garden City’s hot shooting continued in the third quarter, as they grew to a 15-point lead going into the final quarter. The fourth quarter saw the tide change, as the Fillies dominated the paint and transition game and GCCC’s shooting struggled. Panola grabbed the 65-64 lead with 21.1 seconds remaining and then would push the lead to three, 67-64 with 6.4 seconds to go. GCCC had a chance to inbound the ball in the front court, but a 5-second violation caused a turnover and gave Panola the ball back to hang on and win, 67-64.

Jaleah Bellany led the way for the Broncbusters with 21 points, including six three-pointers in the contest. Talia Roberts added 18 and Alyssa Boyce added 11 for GCCC in the loss.

The Broncbusters would try and rally together on Saturday when they faced No. 15 South Plains, but the Lady Texans would be way too much for Garden City to handle.

Bellany was hot from behind the arc again, as she knocked down four three-pointers and finished with a team-high 17 points in the game. The Broncbusters just did not have an answer for the quick and lengthy Lady Texans team.

South Plains built a big lead early on and would grow it as the game went on in route to the 90-54 win over the Broncbusters. Garden City is now 4-4 on the season and will face Cloud County on Wednesday night to begin Jayhawk Conference play with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m. You can hear the game on ESPN Radio-99.9 FM, westernkansasnews.com/kwkr or on the KWKR Mobile App. Pregame coverage will begin at 5:45 p.m.