Buffalo boys get sweep redemption; girls avoid total collapse
Listen to the complete game in our archives section
Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-The Buffaloes fully expected an up-and-down game with Wichita Trinity. But that’s not exactly how it played out.
Good thing for Jacy Holloway’s team-they know how to adjust on the fly.
Garret Doll and Jared Koster combined for 30 points on 10-of-23 shooting, as the Buffaloes avenged last year’s home-court loss to the Knights with a 49-45 victory Friday night at the Garden.
“We though they would come out and push it,” Holloway said. “But they didn’t. They slowed it down, which is what they’ve done in the past. Their personnel was different so we expected it to be up and down.”
The telling sign in this one was on the glass, where Garden City (3-2) outrebounded the longer Knights 34-30, including a 19-13 edge in the first 16 minutes.
“We have to be able to rebound,” Holloway said. “With our size it’s important. In the first half, I felt like we didn’t really try to grab offensive rebounds. But we started following our shots late in the game.”
In a game that saw just one lead change, it was the Buffaloes who took the initiative in the early going. Jared Koster’s layup and three-point play gave Garden City a 9-4 edge late in the first quarter.
The second quarter could have easily been their undoing. Garden City missed 13 of their 16 shots in the period, yet still held a five-point lead at the break.
That’s when Doll and Koster put the Buffaloes on their backs.
The two combined to score 12 straight third-quarter points, as the brown and white extended to their largest lead of the night 31-23 with three minutes to play in the frame.
“That duo (Doll and Koster) can be pretty good,” Holloway said. “We see it every day in practice-so we are fully aware.”
Wichita Trinity (0-3) threw a couple of haymakers of their own, scoring six straight points to pull to within three at the end of the period.
“We knew this would be a tight game,” Holloway said. “They’re a good team. And even though they haven’t won a game yet, I would be very surprised if they’re not back in the state tournament in March.”
The Knights had several chances down the stretch, pulling to within two 47-45 on Mitchell List’s put back with 50 seconds to go.
Following a Buffalo turnover, Wichita Trinity had a chance to tie the game. But Drew Thornton’s leaner from the left block was too strong, and Edgar Aguilar ripped down the Garden City rebound.
The door was left slightly cracked when Erwin Leal hit 1-of-2 free throws at the other end, giving the Buffaloes a three-point lead.
After a timeout, Thornton had a chance to redeem himself for an earlier miss. But his 3-pointer from the right corner bounced off the back rim. Doll split his charity shots, and the Knights lost their third straight game to start the season for the first time in more than 10 years.
“We made plays when we had to,” Holloway said. “It’s good to get this one out of the way knowing the challenge we have in front of us tomorrow.
Scott Schmidt scored nine points and pulled down four rebounds for Garden City. But truth be told, he caught a break on Thornton’s game-tying 3-point attempt when he went over the back of the Knights’ Caleb Johnson. There was no call, and eventually Doll was fouled.
Thornton paced the Knights with 10 points but was just 3-of-10 from the field. Ben Addler added nine points and seven boards, List had nine, and Luke Prohaska chipped in seven.
Tip ins: Garden City shot under 40 percent for the fourth time in their first five games…The Buffaloes were 6-of-19 from downtown (they’ve now hit 6 or more 3-pointers in four of their first five games…Garden City now leads the all-time series with Trinity 4-1…The 34 rebounds was a season high
Next up: Garden City vs. No. 1 Scott City-Saturday, December 12-7 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr; mobile app: KWKR and tuneinradio app: KWKR
Girls
Listen to the complete game in our archives section
Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-We’ve seen great collapses before. One that comes to mind is the AFC wildcard playoffs in 1992 when the Houston Oilers blew a 32-point second-half lead and lost to the Buffalo Bills in overtime.
Or how about this season, when the now 24-0 Golden State Warriors trailed by 20 points late in the third to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Dubs stormed back and eventually won by double digits.
Then there was Friday night at the Garden. And while the stakes weren’t as high as the two examples above, you got the feeling it was playing out the same way.
Fortunately for Head Coach David Upton, time finally ran out on Wichita Trinity.
Joslyn Munoz scored eight points, and Jessica Carillo pulled down a season-best 12 rebounds as the Buffaloes held on for dear life for a 36-31 win over the Knights at the Garden.
But even in victory, it was hard for anyone to celebrate.
“We got out of what we do offensively,” Upton said. “We were careless with the basketball.”
The Buffaloes held a 35-18 lead with 20 seconds to play in the third. That’s when the game turned-like a tidal wave.
The Knights scored the next 13 points, punctuated by Micala Hollinger’s offensive rebound and put back that pulled Wichita Trinity (1-2) to within four 35-31 with 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
“Instead of looking for things that we had on the floor, we kept trying to force things,” Upton said. “We’ve got to get better at that.”
Aerianna Stinemetz finally ended the drought by splitting a pair of free throws with 10 seconds to go, and the clock finally struck midnight on Cinderella’s miracle comeback.
“We have to execute better-period,” Upton said. “The plays were there.”
Tiffany Butler, who was coming off a career-night vs. Palmer Ridge, scored six points for Garden City (3-2). Josie Calzonetti ripped down seven boards, but missed on six of her eight shot attempts.
Kaleigh Schrag tallied 10 points and seven rebounds for the Knights, who turned it over 25 times-a night after giving it away 20 times against Scott City.
“We need to learn from this,” Upton said. “I want the girls to watch the film and correct it.”
The first quarter was one to forget for both teams, as the squads combined to go 4-of-23 from the field (17 percent). The Buffaloes finally got going in the second, outscoring the Knights 19-4 to build a 22-11 halftime advantage.
Tip ins: Garden City turned it over a season—high 26 times-13 of those coming in the fourth quarter…The Buffaloes were 0-for-4 shooting in the final frame-going the final 13 minutes without a field goal…Garden City improved to 4-0 lifetime vs. Wichita Trinity
Next up: Garden City vs. Pueblo East-Saturday, December 12-3:15 p.m. pregame; 3:30 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr; mobile app: KWKR and tuneinradio app: KWKR
