Allen’s 35 not enough for Hutch; women run out of gas
Final Highlights: GCCC men vs. Hutch
Garden City, Kan (westernkansasnews.com)-Busters Head Coach Brady Trenkle has been searching for that signature win. On Monday night at home, his team delivered for their skipper.
Tiodell Pierre came off the bench and played the game of his life; pumping in a career-high 18 points, and Garden City withstood All-American Kadeem Allen’s 35-point entourage in an 84-73 victory over 12th-ranked Hutchinson at the Dennis Perryman Athletic Complex.
“It’s a good win; kids played hard,” an exhausted Trenkle said afterwards. “I kept saying who’s going to be that guy that’s going to step up, and tonight it was Tiodell.”
He wasn’t kidding. Pierre was just the spark plug the Busters (18-6, 5-4) needed to counter the Blue Dragons top-flight offensive attack; a team that built an 11-point lead midway through the first half. But the standing eight count never deterred Garden City.
Following a vicious jam by Allen that put Hutch (20-5, 6-3) up 22-16 with 7:30 to play in the first half, Pierre answered back with a jumper just left of the free throw line. A few minutes later, it was the freshman again, this time drilling a 3-pointer from the top of the key pulling the Busters to within six at 31-25.
After another Allen made bucket, Pierre hit his second straight tray-cutting the the deficit to five. His nine first-half points kept Garden City in the game; they trailed by just six at the break 37-31.
Allen’s offensive antics in the second half kept the Busters at bay-especially during his own-personal mini run five minutes into the period. First it was the sophomore intercepting a pass from Talan Whitaker and dunking it at the other end with two hands. On their next possession, Allen freed himself off a brush screen a buried a straight-on triple-giving Hutch a 49-43 advantage.
After Jalen Variste knocked down an elbow jumper it was Allen once again, sweeping to the rim, double clutching and laying it in to give Hutch a 51-45 lead with just under 14 minutes to go.
Now it was Pierre’s turn. The freshman went back to his long-distance calling card connecting on back-to-back 3-pointers. Trailing 53-51-Pierre misfired on his next three but was pushed and fouled by Darrick Wood. He connected on all three free throws to give Garden City a 54-53 lead-their first since a 6-5 advantage early in the first half.
Hutch regained the lead thanks to Nathan Jackson’s two free throws and a foul-line jumper by Allen. But the Busters refused to go away, and on their next trip down the floor, Whitaker used a head fake on the baseline to get to the rim and dunk it home. The slam brought the entire building to their feet and pulled Garden City within one 58-57 with 9:25 to play in the second half.
Reuben King would tie the game with a free throw; then give the Busters the lead back on a transition layup. Variste’s layup just seconds later gave Garden City a three-point cushion at the 7:10 mark. The freshman point guard, scored six straight points forcing Hutch coach Steve Eck to call a timeout. They would never trail again.
Jade Cathy’s rim rocking dunk out of the break might have been nail in the coffin as the Busters closed the game on a 27-16 run. The sophomore finished with 15 points including 9-of-13 from the free throw line. As a team, Garden City was 28-of-40.
Whitaker notched his third double-double of the year with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Nathan Jackson chipped in 13 for the Blue Dragons, while Darrick Wood scored 10.
Next up: Garden City at Seward County-Wednesday, February 12-8 p.m. tip on AM 1030 KBUF and westernkansasnews.com
Final Stats: GCCC men vs. Hutch
Notes: Listen to the game in its entirety in our game archives.
Hutch women 68, Garden City 55
Final Highlights: GCCC vs. Hutch
Not that Garden City women’s coach Nick Salazar is up for moral victories, but his team’s effort Monday night at home against the third-ranked team in the country is all the first-year head man was asking for less than a month ago at the Sports Arena. Unfortunately the result was the same.
Kalani Purcell recorded her ninth double-double of year scoring 19 points and pulling down 11 rebounds as the Lady Blue Dragons held off a furious Buster rally to win 68-55 at the Perryman Athletic Complex.
“The effort and the energy was there, we just couldn’t finish it tonight,” Salazar said. “They (Hutch) don’t make mistakes; they’re so efficient; they are the best team in the country.”
And they played like it in stretches. Purcell’s relentless attack of the glass demoralized Garden City (13-11, 5-4) all night long. The freshman nearly had a double-double in the first half with 11 points and eight boards.
Jamie Patrick netted 14 points including a back-breaking triple after the Busters used a 14-1 run to cut a 16-point deficit down to three in the early stages of the second half. The sophomore who’s currently ninth on the all-time scoring list at Hutch, was just 1-for-6 from beyond the arc. The lead would swell back to 15.
However the Busters weren’t going away quietly-using a 7-0 run-five of those by Loysha Morris, to cut the Lady Dragons lead to eight with under three minutes to play. But Hutch (23-0, 9-0) dealt a counter blow of their own-holding Garden City to just two points in the final 2:30.
Shaqunna Collins led the Busters with 17 points. Zantay Davis added eight points and six rebounds.
Next up: Garden City at Seward County-Wednesday, February 12-6 p.m. on AM 1030 KBUF and westernkansasnews.com
Final Stats: GCCC women vs. Hutch
Notes: Listen to the game in its entirety in our game archives.
