Buffalo boys dominate; girls fall in closing seconds

Guymon, OK-18 is quickly becoming a hated number for Garden City.

On Tuesday night, the Buffaloes watched an 18-point lead dissipate as Dodge City had two chances to force overtime in the final seconds. Three days later, Garden City once again built an 18-point edge only to see Guymon make a big run in the third.

This time though, the Buffaloes put their foot down, and put an end to any miracle comeback quest.

Tye Davis and Demarcus Elliott each scored 13 points, Jarrod Springston pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, and Garden City held off Guymon 54-42 at Tigers Fieldhouse on Friday night.

“We played pretty well for a portion of the game, and then let them get back in it,” Head Coach Jacy Holloway said. “We have to be better a putting teams away.”

Unlike Tuesday night where the two teams exchanged blows in a highly competitive first quarter, the Buffaloes never trailed, using a 9-0 run to build a 12-2 lead six minutes into the game. After Grayson Wallace and Ismael Herrera converted back-to-back baskets to cut the Garden City (9-6, 3-1) lead to six, Elliott hit a layup, and the Buffaloes had a 14-6 lead after one. With the Tigers hanging around in the second, Davis and Jayden Crook got hot, hitting three straight 3’s, Garrett Doll hit a tough turnaround jumper, Elliott hit a layup, and the Buffaloes scored 13 straight points to close the half, taking a 31-13 lead into the intermission.

“We’ve seen some really good basketball from our guys over the past couple of games,” Holloway said. “But we need to put a complete game together.”

Guymon definitely put a scare in the Buffaloes in the third. Wallace nailed a 3-pointer, Payton Bayless scored on consecutive possessions, and Diego Lozano drilled a long ball that capped a 10-0 surge that pulled the Tigers to within eight. They eventually sliced it to six on David Enriquez’s layup with 1:44 to play in the third quarter.

“We just had to have an answer at that point,” Holloway said. “These guys didn’t panic.”

Garden City answered the call with a 13-4 to run, building their lead to 15 on Elliott’s finish at the rim with 2:01 to go in the game. It was a fitting ending for Elliott, who enjoyed another efficient night, going 6-of-7 from the field while pulling down six rebounds.

“I still think we can feed him (Elliott) more,” Holloway said. “But we were better.”

A game after hitting a season-high 10 3s, the Buffaloes came back down to earth, shooting just 5-of-20 from deep. They were 7-of-10 from the line and outrebounded the Tigers 31-27. Doll chipped in eight points, and Acosta had seven and five boards.

Lozano scored 14 points for Guymon, which lost their second straight game. Wallace added 10 and seven rebounds.

Next up: Garden City at Hugoton-Tuesday, Feb 6-8 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and KWKR mobile app

Girls

Guymon, TX-Every so often, you get a glimpse of the type of team Matt Pfeifer expected to see from day one.

The first half on Friday featured that squad, moving the ball, setting screens and hitting shots. The final 16 minutes was the complete opposite, leading to another second-half collapse.

Megan Bellar recorded a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, Alexis Bishop tallied 14, and Guymon rallied for a 47-45 victory Friday night at Tigers Fieldhouse.

“Consistency continues to be our biggest problem,” Pfeifer said. “There was no consistency in the second half.”

The first two quarters were a different story. A 10-1 run midway through the second period, which was capped by a Felicity Rodriguez driving layup, put Garden City on top 17-8. It was their largest lead of the night with 3:43 to play in the half. But Guymon (6-12) slowly chipped away as Portillo hit three free throws in the final 30 seconds to pull the Tigers to within five at the break.

“We let them stick around instead of going for the throat,” Pfeifer said. “That’s why we lost this game.”

Maggie Landes swished a 3 and Bellar hit a jumper, giving the Tigers their first lead since the first quarter, 26-24 with 4:05 to go in the third. Guymon was up three going into the fourth.

“We didn’t finish, and we didn’t execute when we had to,” Pfeifer said.

The Buffaloes fought back, and took a four-point lead with 1:30 remaining following two free throws by Beth Guymon. But it didn’t stick. Shayla Eastland hit two charity shots, Johanna Quintero hit a floater, followed by Bellar’s two free throws to put the Tigers back on top. Quintero then split two at the line, and Guymon was up 47-45 with 3 seconds remaining.

“We drew up a play that we thought would work,” Pfeifer said. “We wanted to get Josie (Calzonetti) the ball.”

Unfortunately for Pfeifer, the play didn’t work out as planned. Guymon found Calzonetti on the inbounds pass, but had to throw into the backcourt. When she caught the ball, three Guymon players surrounded her and she never got a shot off, as the Tigers handed the Buffaloes their fifth straight loss.

“We should have won this game,” Pfeifer said. “But we will keep working.”

Rodriguez scored a season high 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting for Garden City. Calzonetti added 10 but was just 3-of-8 from the floor.

Guymon won the game despite shooting just 33 percent from the field (13-of-40). Quintero scored six.

Next up: Garden City at Hugoton-Tuesday, Feb. 6-6:15 p.m. pregame; 6:30 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and KWKR mobile app