Busters split Sunday doubleheader with Barton

Garden City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–There’s no doubt the 30-game season is a grind. This year’s 26-game conference season is down to its final 11 games after Sunday. With a pair of games, that saw the teams fairly matched, it was Barton’s girls rallying in the fourth quarter for a 58-52 win, while the Garden City men score at least 51 points in each half en route to a 103-82 win. 

Women
When you hold an opponent’s starters to only eight points in a game, you usually have a really good chance to win. Unfortunately for the Garden City Lady Bronbusters, they saw the Barton bench step up, as the Lady Cougars rallied from an eight-point deficit in the third quarter to knock off the Lady Busters for a second time this year 58-54 at the DPAC Sunday evening.

Sunday’s game saw five lead changes and four ties. After Garden City trailed 13-3 early in the second quarter, they would eventually rally to tie the game at 25 with 1:15 remaining in the halftime. Their second biggest run came in the third quarter, when the Lady Busters used a 9-0 run to take a 43-35 lead with 1:22 remaining in the third quarter.

Garden City (7-12, 5-10) led 44-39 after three quarters, only to see one big Lady Cougar rally. Barton (11-8, 8-7) scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to take a 48-44 lead with 6:41 left in the game. The Lady Busters were only able to get as close as two points late in the game, and missed a couple opportunities with a late turnover.

The Lady Cougars were 9-16 in the fourth quarter from the line, but closed the final 21 seconds with four straight free throws to complete the season sweep. Barton outscored Garden City 19-8 in the final period.

Garden City got another double-double performance from DeRae Lewis, as she had 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Monica Barefield had 10 points. The Lady Busters shot 37% from the floor, and were outrebounded 43-27 by the Lady Cougars. Micaela Jellison led Barton with 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

Up next for Garden City is a trip to Arkansas City, to take on the Cowley County Lady Tigers Wednesday night.

Coach Nick Salazar Postgame

Men
Garden City saw their first defeat at Barton in November, when they lost to the Cougars 92-70. Sunday, they returned the favor in a big way, as the Busters shot 59% from the field, and cruised to a 103-82 win Sunday at the Dennis Perryman Athletic Complex.

The game was tied three times and the lead changed only once, and that all came early. Garden City (13-6, 9-6) used first half runs of six, five, eight, and eight to lead by as many as 24 in the first half, and took a 51-31 lead into the break. The Busters led by as many 25 points early in the second half, and the closest Barton (15-4, 11-4) got would be 15 points late in the game.

Four Busters were in double figures, led by Josh Fleming with 24 points, followed by Victor Dukes with 18, Aaron Ray with 14, and Ben Howze added 11. Garden City also dished out 23 assists in the game, and scored over 100 points for the fifth time this year. Barton was led by Anthony Smith with 25 points and Malik Rhodes added 21.

With the win, Garden City earned a season split with Barton, as they are in a tie for fifth place in the conference standings with Cloud County.

The Busters will travel to face Cowley County Wednesday night in Arkansas City. Garden City is 1-0 against the Tigers, defeating them 90-74 back on November 19. 

Coach Brady Trenkle Postgame