Great Bend takes Garden City by storm
Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-For some odd reason, Great Bend continues to be Garden City’s kryptonite.
And despite a 3-12 record, the Buffaloes made Great Bend look like a well-oiled machine on Friday.
Kody Crosby scored 19 points, Great Bend was 20-for-24 at the line including 15-for-16 in the fourth quarter alone, and the Panthers swept the season series from the brown and white for the first time since 2010 with a 67-62 victory at the Garden.
“It’s frustrating because we just can’t get over the hump,” Garden City Coach Jacy Holloway said afterwards. “We wanted to get off to a fast start, and it just didn’t happen.”
Buffalo fans have become all too familiar with lethargic beginnings. Friday was no different.
The Panthers buried three 3-pointers in the first 3:30, building a 9-2 advantage. After Garden City (5-12, 0-5) cut the lead to six in the final 30 seconds of the period, it was Crosby nailing a deflating triple at the buzzer to give Great Bend a 15-6 lead going into the second.
“Give them (Great Bend) credit,” Holloway said. “In two games against us this year, they’ve been lethal from the 3-point line. Our guys knew that, but we couldn’t stop them.”
The Panthers hit a season-high nine triples, six of those came in the first half en route to a 27-17 cushion with 15 seconds left in the second. Only Jared Koster’s miraculous four-point play prevented Chris Battain’s team from taking a double-digit lead into the locker room.
In the second half, Great Bend (4-12, 2-3) built a 59-50 advantage with 3:49 to play in the fourth.
Garden City (6-11, 0-5) finally fought back.
Garrett Doll connected on a three-point play, Erwin Leal split a pair of free throws, and Jared Koster buried a three and a driving layup that tied the game at 59 with 1:38 to play.
“We gave ourselves a chance, but it was an uphill climb the entire night,” Holloway explained. “We’re just very inconsistent right now.”
Garden City scored just once more over the final 90 seconds, and the Panthers hit eight straight free throws to put the game away.
Brayden Smith scored 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds for Great Bend. Trey Ibarra splashed home 12 and Jacob Murray had 11.
Doll finished with nine for the Buffaloes, who lost their third straight game. Zac Karlin scored eight points on 4-for-7 from the field. He hit his first four shots before missing on his last three.
Next up: Garden City vs. Dodge City-Tuesday, February 16, 7:30 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr; mobile app: KWKR and tuneinradio app: KWKR
Girls
Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-There are two coaches that David Upton wouldn’t mind not ever seeing again.
Dodge City’s Kelly Snodgrass is one and Great Bend’s Carrie Minton is the other.
Minton got the best of Upton again on Friday.
Carley Brack scored a game-high 21 points, Lauren Welsch tallied 16, and Great Bend beat Garden City for the eighth time in their last nine meetings 63-53 at the Garden.
“Our problems are always the same,” Upton explained afterwards. “We had too many periods again where we didn’t score. That continues to hurt us.”
That was evident early on as the Panthers jumped out to a 9-0 lead. After Josie Calzonetti’s 18-footer and Gabriella Cavillo’s bucket got the Buffaloes on the board, Garden City (6-11, 0-5) was held scoreless the final 3:23 of the period.
Great Bend (10-6, 4-1) responded with a 10-0 run and led 19-4 at the end of one.
“We fell down big, but did a nice job of chipping away in the second quarter,” Upton said.
The Panthers built their lead to as many as 17 with 3:25 to go in the half before the Buffaloes scored eight of the final 10 points in the second. They trailed by 11 at the intermission.
A 13-2 spurt pulled the brown and white to within six in the third quarter thanks to back-to-back baskets by Abbie Dart. That’s as close as they would get the rest of the way.
Camtryn Dunekack scored eight points for the Panthers, who for the third straight year, won on Garden City’s home floor. Keely Ireland and Morgan Kottas chipped in seven apiece.
Dart finished with 12 points but was just 4-for-12 from the floor. Calzonetti recorded her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 boards. Tiffany Butler scored eight and Joslyn Munoz had seven.
Next up: Garden City vs. Dodge City-Tuesday, February 16-5:45 p.m. pregame; 6 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr; mobile app: KWKR and tuneinradio app: KWKR
