Robinson Guides Broncbusters to Sophomore Day Dub

GARDEN CITY, Kan. – Sophomore Day was a special one for Garden City. All five of the Broncbusters’ eligible second-years got an opportunity to start their final games against Dodge City.

All seven of them got the chance to celebrate a win afterwards.

The Garden City Broncbusters completed the season sweep against the Dodge City Conquistadors, 86-75, at Conestoga Arena on Saturday. Sophomores Brody Robinson, Braxton Jones, and Thomas Tut led the team in scoring in the victory.

“Coming here, you don’t know anybody, and everybody’s from their own different place,” Robinson said. “It’s good to really get to know each other, play basketball together. We’ll remember each other for the rest of our lives.”

The sophomores started the game strong. Four of the five starters scored within the first five minutes, sparking a 10-0 run to take a 12-2 advantage. All five scored within the first half.

Robinson started the game on a tear. Garden City’s (18-11, 14-9 KJCCC) leading scorer poured in 14 points on his first four shots, including three triples.

“I’ve just been in the gym a lot, just working on my craft, so that I know that going into a game, I’m ready for whatever,” Robinson said.

The Chattanooga transfer posted a 33-point performance on Saturday, his third game of the season with 30 or more. He missed just two shots in his 39 minutes.

Dodge City (9-21, 7-17 KJCCC) stayed in the game off the play of Ice Emery. The Merrimack transfer also started a perfect four-for-four, closing the first half with a team-best 13.

Garden City’s work on the boards paid off towards the end of the first half. Second-chance points from Isaiah Dixon put GCCC ahead, 38-32.

Dixon closed with five points, notching a career-best 10 rebounds.

“I thought Isaiah Dixon [played] his tail off,” Rusty Elmore, Garden City head coach, complimented. “If I could get six or seven other guys to play as hard as that guy, we would win a lot more games.” 

The guard pair of Braxton Jones and Robinson has been near-unstoppable for Jayhawk opponents this season and proved it again on Saturday. The duo scored 13 straight points in the second half, churning a five-point margin to as large as 14.

Jones sealed the game late, hitting three of Garden City’s last four field goals. Jones posted 24 points in the victory.

“Braxton got cooking late, Brody was good,” Elmore said. “Team’s just got to cut down on some of those silly turnovers.”

The Broncbusters will close its regular season with six sweeps against Jayhawk Conference opponents.

Garden City wraps up its regular season this Wednesday against No. 15 Hutchinson at home. Tipoff between the Blue Dragons and Broncbusters is scheduled 20 minutes following the conclusion of women’s basketball’s final, which gets underway at 5:30 P.M.

Audio Recap

Rusty Elmore interview

Brody Robinson interview