Buffaloes Upset Life Prep Academy in Thriller at The Garden

GARDEN CITY, Kan. – Games at The Garden have been wild in 2024. The three games have been decided by a combined four points.

Garden City’s win over Life Prep in 2023 was led by their seniors. Down the stretch of another hectic game at GCHS, the only fire was brought by senior guard Emilio Zundt.

The Garden City Buffaloes outlasted the Life Prep Academy Fire, 54-53, on Friday night. Zundt dominated the second half, igniting for 19 points and five three-pointers. It took every single Buffaloes player to get the looks for him, and the senior knocked them down.

“I think it was fun to see guys see the floor,” first year head coach, Luke Swedberg, said. “When guys are flowing, finding guys are open, and it’s just unselfish basketball, it’s a lot of fun. Just to see the entire team get going, Emilio was the one who had it going, but kudos goes to the whole team tonight.”

The game saw multiple Buffaloes take over for Garden City (6-8) at different points throughout. Brody Burns hit two first-half three pointers to spark a 10-4 Buffs run, establishing an early advantage.

Garden City was the much better team with the basketball throughout the night, making safe reads and savvy passes. The Buffaloes controlled the turnover battle in the first half, forcing eight Fire turnovers.

Juniors Raul Munoz and Thomas Longa were in sync all night long. Longa finished with 12 points, with Munoz assisting the lot of them.

“Just to see how much work those guys have put in,” Swedberg praised. “It’s been really cool to see all of their work to play off. For those two guys, I’m extremely happy for them.”

Longa tied his career-high in points, which he has also set against Hooker (Ok.) in December.

Life Prep (10-6) rallied throughout the end of both halves. The Fire actually took the lead at the break, turning a 7-0 twist into a 26-23 advantage.

It seemed as though Garden City was going to pull away late, but Life Prep closed the game on an 11-4 run to keep things interesting.

The majority of the game was an efficient offensive display, but the final minutes couldn’t have been any more different. Both teams exchanged empty trips to the line, costly turnovers, and poor decisions, keeping the game within one possession.

The Buffaloes got key defensive stops from Longa and Burns to seal the win.

“I thought we did a good job closing the game,” Swedberg said. “I know we missed a couple of free throws down the stretch there… we didn’t let it bother us. I thought the guys did a great job staying the course.”

Life Prep’s Arthur Videira followed up a missed three-pointer at the buzzer. The Buffaloes advance to 6-1 in home games this season.

The Buffaloes close their three-game homestand on Tuesday against the Liberal Redskins. Coverage on 99.9 ‘The Rock’ after girl’s basketball, which starts at 6:00 P.M.

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