Buster men and women fall in final seconds

Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-Games in November are not supposed to mean so much. But when it’s brother against brother, everything is on the table.

James Dumes scored a game-high 14 points, and Dominic Robinson drilled the go-ahead jumper with less than five seconds to play to give Northeastern and Eddie Trenkle a dramatic, 73-71 come-from-behind victory Friday night over Brady Trenkle’s Busters at the Perryman Athletic Complex.

“We were just outplayed by a better team in the final 20 minutes,” (Brady) Trenkle said. “I’ll say it: we were soft all night.”

That definitely wasn’t the case early as Garden City (9-2, 0-0) raced out to a 23-9 advantage, thanks to a 15-0 run. But Northeastern responded with 12 straight points and rallied to within four at the break 33-29.

“We just didn’t guard anybody,” Trenkle said. “Let’s just call it what it is.”

That showed up in the box score, as Garden City’s second-year coach watched his brother’s squad connect on 9-of-16 from beyond the arc.

In a tightly contested second half, Northeastern (8-2, 1-0) grabbed the lead for the first time since the opening minute on the back of Nick Smiley’s and-one layup. The freshman from Los Angeles hit the ensuing free throw and the Plainsmen had a 46-44 advantage.

Northeastern had their chance to pull away with less than 10 minutes to go. After Garden City’s Jonathan Bell hit a three from the wing to the tie the game at 60, it was the Plainsmen following suit by scoring eight of the next 10 points and building a 68-62 lead.

“We had guys just doing their own thing in the second half,” Trenkle said. “If they want to do that, they can just park it on the bench.”

Garden City responded to their fiery coach with a 9-3 run-capped off by Davon Anderson’s two free throws to tie the game at 71. Then it was money time.

Robinson stands just 5-feet-8 inches tall. But if you measured heart in the metric system, the kid would soar through the roof. The sophomore from Curtis High School in Seattle, who nearly single-handedly led his team to a state title his senior year-garnering state MVP honors along the way, was ready for the moment, and (Eddie) Trenke put the ball in his hands.

With less than 10 seconds to go, Robinson used a jab step to free himself from Bell, and delivered the potential knockout blow: a 15-foot, elbow jumper that splashed through the net-giving the Plainsmen a 73-71 lead.

“You have to hand it to the kid,” Trenkle said. “But we didn’t guard him on that last possession.”

After two subsequent timeouts by Garden City, the Busters had a chance to tie or win the game. But when Tidell Pierre hit Tyrell Springer on the inbounds pass, the sophomore slipped and never got a shot off.

“It’s unacceptable not to even get a shot off,” Trenkle said. “He (Springer) knew how much time was left. It went pretty quick.”

Springer finished with 11 points, one rebound and two steals. Bell led the way for Garden City with 13 points, including two monster 3-pointers in the second half. Anderson added 10 points and six rebounds; although he was just 1-of-7 from the field.

Dominic Robinson scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting for the Plainsmen. Isiah Cooper fouled out with 12; Smiley sprinkled in 11; Shikei Blake had 10.

Tip ins: Northeastern won the game despite missing 17 free throws (18-of-35)…The 14-point lead is the largest advantage blown in a loss under Trenkle…It was the first meeting between the two teams since 2011…The loss snapped Garden City’s 11-game, non-conference, home-court winning streak

Next up: Garden City vs. Hill College-Saturday, November 29-7:30 p.m. on AM 1030 KBUF; kbufmobile.com and mobile app: KBUF

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When Nick Salazar goes back and looks at the stat sheet from Friday night, he might want to pop a couple of antacids. It wasn’t pretty.

Kelsey Criner scored 17 points and No. 22 New Mexico held Garden City to one of its’ worst shooting performances of the season in a 52-48, come-from-behind victory Friday night at the Perryman Athletic Complex.

“It took us a little too long to get started,” Salazar said. “They won because of that.”

Garden City built an early 10-3 lead, thanks to a five-minute scoring drought from the Thunderbirds. But once the waters calmed, New Mexico took control.

The Thunderbirds (11-0), also took advantage of the ice-cold shooting of Loysha Morris. The sophomore missed her first 12 shots, as her team fell down by as many as 13 in the second half.

Morris responded with her own personal run, pulling Garden City within striking distance. And her and-one layup with 45 seconds left sliced the New Mexico lead to one 49-48. But the Busters’ free-throw shooting woes reared their ugly head, and Morris left the bonus shot short. They wouldn’t score again.

Morris finished the game with 18 points; 17 of those coming in a furious, second-half rally. Justina James scored 13 points and pulled down a season-high 15 rebounds.