Buster basketball splits with Hutchinson

Garden City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Saturday’s games for the Garden City Broncbuster basketball teams against a pair of nationally-ranked teams from Hutchinson continued a tough stretch of the season. Their last meeting in January featured a pair of teams that spit in Hutchinson. Saturday would see the same result, as the Lady Blue Dragons dumped the Lady Busters 95-53, while the Buster men had a dominant second half in a 93-58 victory.

No. 10 Hutchinson 95, Garden City 53
Through the first three minutes, the game was tightly contested, with two early ties. Then the Lady Blue Dragons flexed their muscles and never looked back. A 20-4 run to close the first period gave Hutch the 24-8 lead after 10 minutes. Hutchinson (24-1, 14-1) used a 12-1 run in a four-minute span to lead 36-9 with 5:50 left in the first half. Garden City had a 10-minute field goal drought and made one final surge in the half, with a 13-4 run to get to within 40-22 late in the first half. The Lady Blue Dragons would then close the half on a 6-1 run to lead 46-23 at the break.

In the second half, Hutchinson would outscore the Lady Busters 27-17 in the third quarter. Garden City (11-14, 6-10) had a 9-2 run in the middle of the period, only to be countered by a 12-1 Lady Blue Dragon run to take a 73-40 lead into the fourth quarter. A 22-13 run in the fourth quarter pushed their final to 95-53. Hutchinson led by as many as 44 late int he game.

Leading the way for the Lady Blue Dragons was Jada Mickens with 19 points, 17 points from Dejanae Roebuck, 15 by Abby Ogle and 12 from Tijuana Kimbro. Hutchinson shot 60% from the floor at 37-62, and were 17-18 from the foul line. Garden City was led by Talia Roberts with 13 points and Jaleah Bellany with 11 off the bench. The Lady Busters shot 27% from the field at 16-59, and were 17-29 at the free throw line. Hutch won the rebounding battle 36-26.

Coach Charinee Mitchell Postgame

Garden City Men 83, No. 22 Hutchinson 58
This one turned in to a runaway for the Busters in the second half. The first half was played close, as the teams were tied four times and exchanged the lead twice. In fact, Hutchinson led for a majority of the first half, with their big lead coming at 19-14 with 10:22 left in the first half. The Blue Dragons lead 28-23 with 5:47 remaining in the first half, before the surge began for Garden City. a 12-4 run for the Busters to close out the half gave them the 35-32 lead.

Garden City (10-15, 5-11) would score the first five points of the second half, and then the rout was on. Hutchinson could get no closer than 42-37 with 17:31 remaining. A 14-0 Buster run pushed the lead to 56-37 with 14:36 left. The Blue Dragons had one final push, scoring six straight to get to within 61-48 with 10-36 remaining. Hutchinson (19-6, 10-6) would only score 10 points the remainder of the night. Garden City would close the final five minutes with a 19-2 run and win it 93-58. The Busters would outscore the Blue Dragons 58-26 in the second half, holding Hutchison to a season-low 58 points.

Jamir Thomas had a career-high 29 points on 11-12 shooting from the floor, and hit all three of his three-point attempts, while Clairborne Kyles came off the bench and had a career-high 17 points, Russhard Cruikshank had 14 and Jakobi Pearson added 10. The Busters were 31-56 from the floor at 55%, and 19-22 from the free throw line. Hutchinson was led by James Rojas with 20 points and Rheaquone Taylor added 10. The Blue Dragons shot 35% for the game at 22-63, and were 11-17 from the line. Garden City won the rebounding battle 38-26.

It was the first time that Garden City has swept Hutchinson in the regular season since 2005.

Coach Patrick Nee Postgame