Coffeyville clips Garden City in overtime

Valley Center, KS-Entering the 2017-2018 season, Garden City had not allowed 80 or more points in a game since 2010.

Amazingly, the Buffaloes have now yielded 80 in two out of their last three contests.

Jaylen Logan scored 12 of his game-high 21 points after the break, Trey Myrie added 16, and Coffeyville took down Garden City 80-71 in overtime in the consolation semifinals of the 2018 January Jam at Valley Center High School. It was the Buffaloes third straight loss, their longest streak of the season.

“I wasn’t upset with our guys,” Buffaloes Coach Jacy Holloway. “Give Coffeyville a lot of credit because they knocked down shots when they needed to.”

Truth be told, this game had more anxiety-filled moments in 36 minutes than Garden City had faced all season. But in the end, the result was all too familiar for Holloway.

“Our rebounding in the first half wasn’t very good, and we missed 10 free throws,” he said. “That in itself will get you beat.”

Despite the rebounding disadvantage over the first 16 minutes, Garden City (6-5, 2-1) erased an eight-point first-quarter deficit, thanks to Carlos Acosta, Jarrod Springston and Garrett Doll, who combined to score 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting in the first half. Doll even added four assists, including a dime to Demarcus Elliot, whose baby hook with two seconds left in the second gave Garden City a 35-30 edge at the intermission.

“We are still trying to get our confidence back,” Holloway said. “At the hotel, we talked to the guys, and some of them, the message has sunk in. But it needs to with all of them.”

The Buffaloes upped their lead to eight 40 seconds into the third when Acosta drained a 3-pointer from the wing. That’s when the game flipped.

Coffeyville (7-4, 3-1) stormed back with 12 straight points including back-to-back 3s by CJ Kelley and Andrew Knight that put the Golden Tornadoes on top 42-38 with 4:53 remaining in the third. Coffeyville led by five at the end of the period and was up by seven with 4:27 to go in the fourth.

“I give our guys a lot of credit for fighting back,” Holloway said. “Things weren’t going our way, but we kept grinding.”

The comeback began with Doll’s corner 3 and Jarell Coleman’s free throw that sliced the deficit to three. After Logan answered with a layup for the Golden Tornadoes, Elliott converted inside and Acosta swished two freebies to pull the Buffaloes to within one, 62-61 with 1:38 to go.

“This was definitely another learning experience for our guys,” Holloway said.

Coffeyville kept leaving the door open for Garden City, missing three free throws in the final 90 seconds, two of those by Kelley that gave the Buffaloes life. Then, trailing by two with 20 seconds remaining, Doll slipped a beautiful bounce pass to Elliott on the right block, which he finished with a fantastic spin move, shaking off Knight and twisting in the tying bucket off the glass.

The Golden Tornadoes still had time on the clock to win it in regulation, but Logan’s floater in the lane fell a foot short of the rim. The Buffaloes even had their own crack at ending the game when Tye Davis grabbed the rebound and sprinted the other way. But before he could get a shot off, Logan punched the ball free from behind, sending the game into overtime.

From there, it was all Coffeyville.

The Golden Tornadoes scored the first seven points of the extra session, including Knight’s line-drive 3-pointer from the right wing, and they never looked back, outscoring the Buffaloes 15-6 in the period. They built their lead to as many as 11 and were 5-of-7 shooting in overtime.

“We have to get back to doing what we were doing when we were winning,” Holloway said. “We will get there, but like I said, we have to have confidence.”

Kelley, the All-Southeast Kansas League quarterback, scored 12 points for Coffeyville, which snapped a two-game skid. Brenndan Graham and Knight each added 12 as well.

Doll poured in a season-high 17 points for the Buffaloes, who dropped to 0-2 lifetime vs. Coffeyville. Acosta poured in a career-best 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting, and Springston had 10.

Next up: Garden City vs. Kansas City Turner-Saturday, Jan. 20-11:45 am pregame; 12 pm tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and KWKR mobile app