Carroll crushes Garden City in NIT opener
Newton, KS-At this point in the season, nine days off would do most teams some good. Especially since Garden City was coming off their most complete game of the season.
But the week-long break brought back old habits, and it cost the Buffaloes dearly in one of the most competitive, mid-season tournaments in Kansas.
Hannah Landwehr scored 13 points, Bishop Carroll forced 20 Garden City turnovers, and the fourth-ranked Eagles ran away from the Buffaloes 52-22 in the opening round of the Newton Invitational Thursday night at Ravenscroft Gymnasium.
“We were off from the start,” Buffalo Coach Matt Pfeifer said afterwards. “We were sloppy from the beginning, and we gave them extra possessions.”
Bishop Carroll (10-1, 8-1) was a bit off at the start as well. The Eagles, who won their fifth straight game, turned the ball over five times in the first eight minutes. That allowed Garden City to keep it close, and back-to-back buckets by Annie Gerber tied the game at four.
From there, it was all Eagles.
Landwehr’s 3-pointer from the right wing fueled a 10-0 run that put Bishop Carroll up 10. After Beth Guymon trimmed the lead to eight with a running bank shot in the paint, Allison McFarren provided an early backbreaker, grabbing her own miss and putting it back home at the buzzer to put the Eagles up 18-8 after one.
“It was another game where we went long stretches without scoring,” Pfeifer said. “And our defensive rotations were not good tonight at all.”
The Buffaloes went the first 5:30 of the second without scoring, while Bishop Carroll got consecutive baskets by Ella Larkin, Brittany Ho hit a five-footer in the paint, and the Eagles had a 24-8 cushion with 2:30 left in the half. They bumped that to 18 at the break.
“They were really good, but we helped them out plenty with turnovers and bad defense,” Pfeifer said. “Plus we couldn’t hit a shot.”
Garden City was 1-of-8 shooting in the second quarter and 5-of-17 for the half. They finished 8-of-35 on the night (23 percent). It was their third worst shooting game of the season.
“We had no rhythm,” Pfeifer said. “And that’s frustrating.”
The poor shooting continued in the third quarter, while more defensive lapses opened the floodgates.
Bishop Carroll drilled four 3s in the third quarter, building its lead to 29 once Landwehr splashed home a long ball to make it 43-16 with 4:50 left in the period. They stretched that to 34 in the fourth as the game went to a running clock.
“We have to worry about ourselves right now,” Pfeifer said. “It doesn’t matter who we play the next two days. We have to get better.”
McFarren added 10 for Bishop Carroll, who improved to 6-0 all-time vs. Garden City. Pittsburg State signee Ashton McCorry had nine points and five rebounds.
Josie Calzonetti reached double figures for the 11th time this season, scoring 10 points for Garden City, but she was just 3-of-11 from the field. Guymon and Gerber each had four.
Next up: Garden City vs. Andover Central-Friday, Jan. 26-4:30 pm pregame; 4:45 pm tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and KWKR mobile app
