Rolling along; Buffs stampede Redskins in finale
Final girls highlights: GCHS vs. Liberal
Liberal, Kan (westernkansasnews.com)-Put all the arguments to rest; well at least until next week. Garden City’s playoff seeding is all locked up, and they have a week to rest their legs.
Taryn Tempel became the first Lady Buffalo to surpass 1,000 points-netting 14 in a 57-31 victory over the Liberal Redskins Tuesday night at the Big House.
“Anyone that can score a 1,000 points in their career is a big accomplishment,” Head Coach David Upton said. “Taryn doesn’t really care about it, but it’s still a big-time accomplishment.”
Not only did Tempel set a record, 1001 career points, but Garden City (12-8, 5-3) also wrapped up the number three seed in next week’s sub state tournament-likely setting up a showdown with Wichita Northwest.
Tionnia McKee scored 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting, while Jaymie Berbeck chipped in nine points and eight rebounds.
The only drama that came in this one-sided affair was on the opening tip. Liberal senior Alicia Collins, who tore up her knee last summer, was inserted into the starting lineup on senior night. Though not medically cleared to play, Collins was given permission by her doctors that she could play briefly, and then come out of the game. She was instructed to foul Tempel on the game’s opening possession. Well that never happened, and Tempel threw the ball away. Bill Baird then had to call a timeout.
Other than that-it was complete domination. Garden City used a 16-1 run in the middle of the 1st quarter to take a 17-3 lead. Kennedy Brunson was the main spark plug behind it, scoring a season-high eight points and draining two 3-pointers. Meantime the Buff defense held Liberal (7-12, 1-6) to only three field goals in the first half.
Lady Redskins senior Jai Chapman, who was averaging 14 points per game coming in, was shutdown for most of the night-finishing with 11 on just 4-of-13 from the field.
Next up: Garden City vs. TBA-6A substate-Wednesday, March 5-5 p.m. on KWKR 99.9 FM
Final Stats: GCHS girls at Liberal 2
Garden City boys 55, Liberal 47
Final Highlights: GCHS vs. Liberal
It took nearly a full season, but Caleb Tramp finally gave Garden City fans a peak at his untapped potential.
The junior was an aggressive menace, pulling down a season-high 14 rebounds-notching his second double-double of the season, while scoring a game-high 18 points. All of that proved to be just enough as the Buffaloes handed Liberal a 55-47 loss Tuesday night at Redskins Field House.
“He (Caleb) did the things we’ve been asking him to do all season,” Head Coach Jacy Holloway said after the game. “And for the first time, he picked his spots. He knew when to ask out of the game. I’ve told him that he cannot sustain that type of intensity for 32 minutes. Everyone breaks down.”
Tramp heeded to his coach’s message, and dazzled the road crowd with one big play after another. And when the Redskins (6-13, 1-6) cut the Garden City (12-8, 4-4) lead to just four midway through the third quarter, it was the junior jumping in the passing lane; intercepting the ball; racing the other way and throwing it down viciously with two hands. Of course the only blemish of the night was a missed dunk a few minutes later, but even that put a smile on the young man’s face.
As for rest of the team, it wasn’t an offensive performance for the ages. But there was one thing Holloway took away from Tuesday night: Free throw shooting. The Buffs finished 19-of-24 from the line-their best outing of the year. Miguel Olivas was a perfect 6-for-6.
This was basically a wire-to-wire win, and except for Britton Abbott’s jumper in the lane that gave Liberal a 2-0 advantage in the first 90 seconds, the lead never changed hands again. Emilio Parr splashed home a season-best nine points and was 3-of-4 from the stripe.
Abbott netted 14 for the Redskins, but only two after half time.
Next up: Garden City vs. Wichita Northwest-Sub State semifinals-Wednesday, March 5-7 p.m. on KWKR 99.9 FM
Final Stats: GCHS boys vs. Liberal 2
