Buffalo girls finish seventh at Hays Shootout; Boys fourth

Hays, KS-After winning their opening game at the Gerald Mitchell Hays City Shootout, the Garden City Buffaloes finished the tournament with back-to-back losses, following in the third place game Saturday afternoon, 55-38 to Hays.

The first half was a low-scoring back-and-forth affair, with 12 lead changes and three ties. Garden City’s last lead, though, came on a 3-pointer with 6:40 left in the second quarter to go up 16-14. It would be four minutes before the Buffaloes scored again, getting a free throw at the 2:40 mark, to draw within one at 18-17. At halftime, Hays led 21-19.

Garden City opened the second half with another cold spell, this one lasting the first 3:37 of the third quarter and by the time Jesus Reyes completed a 3-point play, the Buffaloes trailed 27-22. That was followed by another 3-minute drought as Hays built a 13-point lead before Garden City cut it to 9 heading into the final stanza, 35-26.

The Buffs never got closer than that and when another dry spell overcame them, the Indians stretched the lead to 22 at 53-31 with two minutes to play. Garden City finished on a 7-2 run, but it was too little, too late.

In addition to poor shooting, Garden City got a scoreless night from Jared Koster, who sat most of the first half with two fouls and never got untracked offensively. Jesus Reyes led the Buffaloes with 11 points. Isaiah Nunnery of Hays led all scorers with 21. Garden City drops to 1-2 and will be back in action Thursday in the Southwest Classic.

Girls

Hays, KS-Using a ball-hawking defense and balanced scoring, the Garden City Lady Buffaloes grabbed their first win of the young season, blasting Colby 56-32 in the 7th place game at the Gerald Mitchell Hays City Shootout.

Neither team was sharp early, probably due in part to the 10:00 AM start time, but Josie Calzonetti opened the second quarter with a steal and a lay-up, giving the Lady Buffaloes a 10-4 lead. That seemed to spark Garden City as David Upton’s squad would outscore Colby 13-6 in the quarter and build an 11-point halftime lead, 21-10.

The Buffaloes opened the second half on an 8-0 run to lead by 19 and after the Eagles cut it to 15, Garden City would score 5 unanswered, stretching the lead to 20. That was the lead after 3 quarters with the score 39-19. Midway through the final quarter, the Lady Buffaloes had built the lead to 28, 49-21, and coasted the rest of the way.

Garden City forced Colby to turn the ball over 26 times. No Buffalo was in double figures. Alyssa Long led the way with 8 points, hitting two treys and 2 of 2 free throws. Joslyn Munoz, Abbie Dart and Josie Calzonetti each followed with 7.

The Lady Buffaloes finish the Hays City Shootout 1-2 and get ready for the Southwest Classic this next weekend.