Buffaloes Defeated by Haysville-Campus in Substate Semifinals
Garden City High School boys basketball team hosted Dodge City High School on Tuesday, February 13, 2024 at The Garden in Garden City, Kan. The Buffaloes defeated the Red Demons 56 - 52. Photo credits; Adam Shrimplin, Shrimplin Photography
HAYSVILLE, Kan. – The phrase is ‘blink and you miss it’. It’s a phrase in film, describing a moment barely visible, but gone too quickly.
From the opening tip, the moment flashed by fast for the Garden City Buffaloes.
In the substate semifinals, Garden City dropped its decision. The Buffaloes lost to the Haysville-Campus Colts, 78-52. Campus punched the Buffaloes in the mouth, and despite its best efforts, could never pull back close enough.
“You have to tip your cap to Campus here tonight,” first-year head coach Luke Swedberg said. “They came ready to play. They came out, they punched us right in the face.”
The game got off to a disastrous start for the Buffaloes. Garden City (9-12) gave up the first 12 points of the game, going down by 19 after the first.
The seniors got it going for the Colts. Center Drake McPherson scored the game’s first four, and then Campus superstar, Andrell Burton Jr., took over.
Burton scored the next six points, closing with 13 first-half points. Burton scored in double-figures for the 20th game of the season, delivering a game-high 20.
Garden City got back into the contest around the cup. The Buffaloes got 12 of their 14 second-quarter points in the paint, with Thomas Longa leading the way. GCHS cut within 18 to open up the second half.
Haysville Campus (13-8) got their support from Emaijah Bowen and Kaason Thomas. Bowen exploded for a career-high 14 points, swishing four three-pointers.
Garden City showed a fight in the late stages of the third. Starters Raul Munoz and Brody Burns hit crucial shots around the cup, pulling the Buffaloes closer.
The biggest three-pointer was delivered by Thomas. Immediately following a Dallas Rosales layup to cut the lead down to 14, Thomas swished a double-clutch three as time expired, bringing the lead back to 17.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” Swedberg said. “We got it all the way back to 14, they hit a double-clutch three to end it. That’s kind of a gut shot when it feels like you’ve done so much work to climb back into it. My heart’s broken for our guys, hats off to our seniors.”
Garden City’s season ended with its seniors on the floor. Emilio Zundt, Burns, Kolten Davis, Jeovany Baires, and Corbin West combined for 25 points in the game, all getting to share their final moments of the season.
“They’ve had three coaches in their high school careers,” Swedberg attested. “I’m so appreciative of these guys for their roles.”
Haysville-Campus moves on to face Derby in the substate finals. Garden City closes its season with a final record of nine wins and 12 losses.
Luke Swedberg interview
