Bernbeck leads Broncbusters past Pratt; men blown out at home
Listen to the complete game in our archives section
Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-Broncbuster women’s coach Nick Salazar has never had a problem getting his team up for games against highly-touted opponents. It’s the ones where they should win where he’s had problems.
Not on Wednesday night.
Shala Dobbins scored 13 of her game-high 20 points in the second half, and Jaymie Bernbeck recorded her third double-double of the season with a season-high 16 points and 12 boards as Garden City used a third-quarter surge to pull away from Pratt for a 66-56 victory at the Perryman Athletic Complex.
“I thought we had a really good plan, especially in the second half,” Salazar said. “Their zone was a little weird, but I thought we did a good job handling it.”
Things were not all rosy after a nine-turnover first quarter. But Garden City (11-6, 5-1) finally found their footing in the second period, and took the lead for good when Dobbins followed her own miss with a layup with five seconds to go in the half.
“It was nice to have Shala back,” Salazar explained. “She kept fighting even though she didn’t shoot the ball that well.”
Dobbins sat out the Neosho County game for personal reasons, and looked rusty in the early going, missing nine of her first 11 shots. But the freshman guard found her touch in the second half going 5-of-10 from the field-helping direct a third quarter that saw the Broncbusters outscore Pratt (8-7, 1-4) 19-10 to build an 11-point cushion.
But the story of this game was Bernbeck.
After a 1-for-10 showing on Saturday in Chanute, the hometown kid was at her sensational best back home. She netted eight third-quarter points, including a put back that gave the Broncbusters their largest lead 45-29 with 2:25 to go in the period.
“We have other players, and Jaymie is a perfect example of that,” Salazar said. “She was really good tonight.”
She was also efficient-finishing 7-of-12 from the field and making four of her five shots in the third quarter.
The Beavers tried to make things interesting late, pulling to within eight three different times in the final nine minutes, thanks in large part to a 56 percent-shooting fourth quarter. But Pratt was held scoreless over the final 60 seconds, and Garden City ended a three-game losing streak to their eastern rivals.
“I don’t know what it is about Pratt, but we have not played very well against them during my tenure,” Salazar said. “So this win feels good.”
Kavita Akula finished with 11 for the Broncbusters. Donasja Scott tallied seven points and a season-best 13 rebounds.
Aubree Nuest paced Pratt with 17 points, while Megan Poole added 14. Those two combined for all but two of the Beavers 21 fourth-quarter points.
In the early going it was Pratt setting the tone, building a four-point edge after Jada Jones split a pair of free throws. But the Broncbusters responded with a 5-0 run to take their first lead 17-15 with 8:07 left in the first half.
Next up: Garden City at Cowley-Saturday, January 9-5:15 p.m. pregame; 5:30 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr; mobile app: KWKR and tuneinradio app: KWKR
Men
Listen to the complete game in our archives section
Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-In three years under Brady Trenkle, Garden City has always been competitive no matter the opponent.
On Wednesday, for the first time in 72 games under the veteran skipper, the Broncbusters took a turn for the worst.
Devin Campbell scored 19 of his game-high 28 points in the first half, Dennis Jones added 18, and Pratt dominated Garden City in every aspect in a 90-73 win at the Perryman Athletic Complex.
“We can only get better from games like this,” Trenkle said afterwards. “We were outplayed. I have guys that are out there doing their own thing. I put an offense in earlier this week, and we ran it a couple of time successfully in the game. But after the third time, one of my guys forgot how to run it, and we couldn’t use it anymore.”
That’s the type of night it was for Garden City (11-6, 3-3), who stormed out of the gates, building an 8-2 lead in the first three minutes on the heels of Josh Fleming’s 3-pointer. After the team’s traded buckets, the Broncbusters held a 12-7 edge with 15:15 to go in the first half. That’s when the complexity of the game totally changed.
Diontae Jones picked up his second foul and was relegated to being a spectator for the rest of the first half. Moments later, Fleming joined him, and what followed was a 38-14 run that put Pratt (10-6, 3-2) up 45-26 with 1:00 to play until half time.
“Games like this, it’s hard to go back and watch the film,” Trenkle explained. “Because for the first few minutes, we looked great. Then over the final 36, I can’t tell you what happened.”
For starters, after beginning the game 4-of-6 from the field, the Broncbusters missed 17 out of their next 19 shots. In direct contrast, the Beavers, who entered the night as one of the best shooting teams in the conference, countered by hitting 14-of-30, helping build their double-digit lead.
Then there were the scoring droughts. After Brandon Jones emphatic dunk put Garden City up 17-16 with 11:03 to play in the first half, Trenkle’s team went silent over the next five minutes. Pratt countered by scoring 14 straight points-capped off by Devin Campbell’s triple that gave the Beavers a 30-17 lead.
“I know how talented this team is,” Trenkle said. “But we have to stick to what we do. We’re not doing the things that we need to do to be successful. That starts with me.”
It also didn’t help that Garden City shot 21 less free throws. In fact, the Beavers had more makes (31) than Broncbuster attempts (19). It’s the second straight game that’s happened.
“I keep telling our guys to drive to the rim,” Trenkle explained. “But we’re still jacking up jumpers. The free throw disparity is on us. We’re not driving it.”
Pratt shot 24 free throws in the second half to Garden City’s eight. So much for equality.
“I like our chances with this team if we’re shooting 40 free throws,” Trenkle said. “That much I know. We’re a really good free throw shooting team. We just have to get there.”
The other mind-blowing stat was on the glass, where for the second straight game, Garden City was totally dominated 42-30-surrendering 12 second chance opportunities. They’ve now been outrebounded 100-58 over the last two games.
“We’ve got guys running into each other, where the ball goes right back to them and they get an easy layup,” Trenkle said. “That’s what kind of night it was.”
Pratt had something to do with that; specifically Campbell and Jones, who combined to score 19 of the Beavers first 21 points. Campbell also recorded his first double-double of the season, pulling down 11 rebounds.
“Pratt is a very good team, and we knew that,” Trenkle added. “It’s addition by subtraction.”
Fleming led the Broncbusters with 25 points, 17 of those coming in the second half. Jabar Ray scored all 17 of his points after half time. Those two were a combined 15-of-31 from the field. The rest of the team was just 9-of-38 (24 percent).
Fresno State transfer Isaiah Bailey, who missed a game-tying 3-pointer vs. Hutch on Saturda, scored 13 points and pulled down five rebounds. Brian Wright added 11 and Keil Kelly had nine.
After falling down by 19 early in the second half, the closest Garden City could get the rest of the way was 11 on (Brandon) Jones bucket with 15:20 to play. But the Broncbusters could not get stops on the other end as the Beavers’ lead eventually swelled to as many as 20 points.
Next up: Garden City at Cowley-Saturday, January 9-7:30 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr; mobile app: KWKR and tuneinradio app: KWKR
