Complete Team Performance as Buffaloes Basketball Crushes La Junta
Garden City High School Boys basketball team hosted Life Prep during the Roundball Classic on Tuesday December 13, 2022 at The Garden in Garden City, Kan. The Buffalos defeated Life Prep 57 - 43. Photo Credits; Adam Shrimplin, Shrimplin Photography
Garden City, KS. – A true team effort. Every single Buffalo who checked in on Friday night got on the scoreboard.
The ball movement dazzled, the three pointers swished, the defense stuffed.
Everything went Garden City’s way Friday night.
The Garden City Buffaloes hammered the La Junta Tigers on Friday, rolling to a second consecutive victory, 75-49. Only one Buffalo scored in double figures, a complete scoring balance from the entire Buffs squad.
“It’s great when the guys are willing to share the basketball,” Luke Swedberg, first-year head coach, said. “It’s so much fun to watch a team play the way we did tonight.”
The game never felt like a contest. Thomas Longa set the tempo with a quick putback on GCHS’ first possession of the game, and shots just kept falling from there. The Buffaloes hit four three pointers in the first quarter, three of them from senior forward, Brody Burns.
“It’s a lot of fun when you make shots early, it really helps the offense flow,” Swedberg said. “Brody’s a guy who came in on Sunday and got in extra work, it’s great to see that extra work pay off.”
Burns would finish with 12 points, the only Buffalo to score in double-figures. Garden City cruised to a 21-8 lead after one, then the whole team got involved.
Daniel Monarrez, Emilio Zundt, and Dallas Rosales would combine for 13 of the Buffaloes’ 17 second-quarter points, pulling ahead by 19 at the break. Eight of the 10 Buffaloes who had checked in during the first half found their way onto the scoreboard.
“We’ve been trying to find ways to continue spacing the floor and making the right reads when guys are open,” Swedberg said. “It takes a lot of trust to not have one or two players to run your entire system. It’s been great watching our progress from the beginning part of the year to now.”
Raul Munoz, Nate Martinez, Jeovanny Baires, Colten West, and the aforementioned Rosales all set season-highs in the victory. It was truly a game where everyone left with their heads held high.
The Buffaloes finish out the Roundball Classic tomorrow against the Lamar Thunder. Coverage begins right after the finish of girl’s basketball’s matchup with Lamar on 99.9 ‘The Rock’.
