Garden City girls pull away late, Scott City boys win in overtime thriller
Garden City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The final day of the Clarion Inn Roundball Classic feature two teams just 35 miles apart, as Garden City played host to Scott City. It was the first time in two seasons the teams met up on the hardwood, as both teams were going for the championship of the classic. Both schools would take one win, as the Lady Buffaloes would pull away late with a 50-37 win, while the Beaver boys rallied from a 10-point second half deficit to win in overtime 64-62.
Garden City Girls 50, Scott City 33
In a game that had three lead changes and eight ties, it would be Garden City that would never trail for the final eight-plus minutes of the game. The Lady Buffs took an 9-7 lead after the opening frame, and led 13-11 a little over two minutes into the second quarter. Scott City would rally with seven straight and take an 18-17 lead with 3:28 left before halftime. Garden City (5-1) pulled to within 18-17 with 2:27 left in the second period, before the Lady Beavers got the final basket late in the half to lead 20-17 at intermission. Scott City (2-2) opened up a 25-18 lead with 3:53 left in the third quarter. The Lady Buffaloes would storm back and do so in a big way. A 15-5 run over the final three minutes of the third stanza gave them a 33-30 lead heading into the fourth quarter. To begin the fourth quarter scoring, the Lady Beavers would tie the game with a triple at 33. After that, it was all Garden City. The Lady Buffaloes scored the next nine points, and led 42-33 midway through the final quarter. Scott City could get it no closer than six at 42-36, as Garden City would pull away late to take a 50-37 win.
KJ Pinchon would led the way for the Lady Buffs with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Hailey Brown added 10 points. They would go 14-18 from the foul line and commit 10 turnovers. Scott City was led by Megan Trout’s 11 points, as they went 15-23 from the charity line, but committed a season-high 22 turnovers.
The win by Garden City snapped a three-game losing streak to the Lady Beavers. It was their first win in the series since 2017, when they won in overtime 59-53 in the Roundball Classic. Since 1982, Scott City leads the series 6-5.
Coach Justin Faurot Postgame
Box Score
Scott City 7 13 10 7–37
Garden City 9 8 18 15–50
Scott City
K. Gentry 0 3-4 3; Fox 2 1-2 5; Metzger 1 0-0 2; Irvin 1 2-2 5; P. Gentry 0 0-0 0; Weathers 0 1-2 1; Lewis 1 3-4 6; felker 1 2-3 4; Trout 4 3-6 11; Team: 10 15-23 37
Garden City
Powers 0 1-2 1; Hannagan 3 0-0 8; Brown 3 2-2 10; McDonald 0 0-0 0; Pinchon 4 10-12 19; Meng 0 0-2 0; Korf 3 0-0 8; Villegas 2 0-0 4; Team: 15 14-18 50
Three-Point Goals: Scott City 2 (Irvin 1, Lewis 1), Garden City 6 (Brown 2, Korf 2, Hannagan 1, Pinchon 1); Turnovers: Scott City 22, Garden City 10; Fouls: Scott City 18, Garden City 18; Fouled Out: None.
Scott City Boys 64, Garden City 62, OT
For most of the second and third quarters, Garden City could hardly miss a shot. Scott City, who had never trailed until Saturday night, overcame adversity by trailing by 10 points in a game that saw five lead changes and 10 ties. The Beavers came out firing early on, leading 15-7 with 1:25 left in the first quarter, only to see the Buffs score the final eight points of the quarter to tie the game at 15 heading into the second period. After it was tied at 21 with about 5:10 left before the break, Garden City (2-4) closed the first half on a 9-2 run to take a 30-23 lead at the break. They would grow their lead to 44-34 with 2:29 left in the third stanza, only to see Scott City (4-0) rally back with seeven straight in the final two minutes of the period to pull to within 44-41 going in to the fourth quarter. To begin the fourth frame, the Buffaloes scored the first six points to lead 50-41. However, the Beavers would punch back and use a 9-0 run over the next two mintues to tie the game at 50 with 4:19 left. The teams would trade baskets, as Garden City took a 56-54 lead with 34.8 seconds remaining. Scott City would hit one out of two free throws, to get it to within one, and the Buffs turned the ball over, and committed a foul with 8.8 seconds left. The Beavers were able to hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 56. Garden City’s three-point shot fell short to win it, as the game went to overtime.
In the extra session, Scott City took two, two-point leads, and led 60-58 with 1:48 left in overtime. The Buffaloes would bank in a three to lead with 1:23 left at 61-60. On the next possessoin, the Beavers hit one free throw with 42 seconds left, and Garden City would hit one of two free throws on the ensuing possession to tie the game at 62 wiht 20.7 seconds remaining. Scott City would run the clock down, and Jackson Rumford would put it off the glass with 3.2 seconds left to give them the 64-62 lead.
Scott City was led by Jackson Rumford’s 31 points and 14 rebounds, his second career 30-point game, and 10th double-double, while Alex Tarango had 12 points and Eloy Ruelas added 10. The Beavers were 11-16 from the foul line and had just five turnovers. Leading the way for Garden City was Raul Munoz with 13 points, and got 11 from Nate Martinez and Daniel Monarrez. The Buffaloes were 7-13 from the foul line and had 17 turnovers.
With the win, Scott City snapped a three-game losing streak in the series. It was their first win against Garden City since 2015, when they won 65-63 in the Roundball Classic in The Garden. The schools last played an overtime game in 1966, when they won 62-59 in overtime in Garden City. The Buffaloes lead thet series since 1965 12-5. It’s the second straight year the Beavers have gone 3-0 in the Roundball Classic.
Coach Brian Gentry Postgame
Box Score
Scott City 15 8 18 15 8–64
Garden City 15 15 14 12 6–56
Scott City
Metzger 0 0-0 0; Ruelas 4 0-2 10; Radke 2 2-4 6; Faurot 0 0-0 0; Meza 2 0-0 5; Tarango 5 0-0 12; Wren 0 0-0 0; Rumford 10 9-10 31; Team: 23 11-16 64
Garden City
Martinez 5 1-3 11; Monarrez 4 0-0 11; Munoz 5 3-5 13; Strecker 3 0-0 7; Rosales 4 0-0 8; Longa 4 0-0 9; Hemmert 0 3-4 3; Team: 25 7-13 62
Three-Point Goals: Scott City 7 (Ruelas 2, Tarango 2, Rumford 2, Meza 1), Garden City 5 (Monarrez 3, Longa 1, Strecker 1); Turnovers: Scott City 5, Garden City 17; Fouls: Scott City 14, Garden City 14; Fouled Out: Garden City (Rosales)
Scott City will host Goodland for their league opener on Tuesday night and travel to Holcomb on Friday night. Garden City has a week off before traveling to Hooker, Oklahoma to face the Bulldogs Saturday afternoon.
