Holcomb splits with Hugoton

Lady Longhorns fall, Holcomb boys roll at Hugoton

Holcomb Lady Longhorns 48​Hugoton Eagles 52

31 points from Taylor Deniston wasn’t enough as the Lady Longhorns fell to the Eagles 52-48. Deniston hit 5 3-pointers and was 6 of 7 from the free throw line, but no one else reached double figures against Hugoton’s spread 2 – 3 zone defense that led to 23 Longhorn turnovers. The Eagles, meanwhile, were led by a pair of freshmen, Katy Heger with 17 and Amy Scott with 16 points. After trailing by one at halftime, Holcomb built an 8-point lead late in the third quarter, but Hugoton scored the last 4 points of the third and first 8 points of the fourth to take a 47-43 lead with three minutes to play. The Longhorns only managed to score 5 points in the final stanza and never got closer than 2 down the stretch. Jordan Jarnigan missed a 10-footer that would have tied the gamewith 16 seconds to play and Amy Scott calmly hit two free throws with 12 seconds left to put it away. Holcomb and Hugoton are now tied atop the GWAC at 4-1 and both teams are 11-2 on the season. They’ll meet again in Holcomb on February 25. Up next for the Lady Longhorns, they’ll host Garden City on Tuesday night. Pregame on KBUF 1030-AM begins at 6:15.

Holcomb Longhorns 79​Hugoton Eagles 47

This one was never in doubt as the Longhorns couldn’t miss in the game’s opening minutes and they jumped out to a 29-13 first quarter lead. Holcomb led by 19 at halftime, 24 at the end of three and built the lead to 35 points before finishing with the 32-point win. Trey Sleep led all scorers with 23 points and freshman Conner Van Cleave had a career high 15. Heath Tucker added 13 and Blake Richmeier tossed in 10 points off the bench. Coach Chad Novack called it his team’s best and most completeoffensive performance of the year. The only bad news is that the Longhorns will be without sophomore Scott Schmidt the rest of the season. Schmidt has been one of the key players off the bench, but he suffered a broken foot in practice this week. Holcomb improves to 10-3 on the year, 4-1 in GWAC play, a half-game behind Scott City. The Longhorns host the Garden City Buffaloes on Tuesday and you can hear the action immediately following the girls’ game on KBUF 1030-AM.