The encore: Elliott’s big night helps Garden City push past Ulysses
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Ulysses, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-Since the Christmas break, the Garden City boys have proven one thing: they are never out of a game.
Tuesday night in Ulysses, that resolve proved to be the fitting anecdote for yet another, second-half surge.
Demarcus Elliott scored a career-high 13 points, Garrett Doll added 13 as well, and the Buffaloes overcame a sluggish start to beat the Tigers 62-52.
“I’m just proud of how these guys never quit,” Garden City Coach Jacy Holloway said. “It’s very refreshing to see our guys work.”
That work enabled the smaller Buffaloes to outrebound their opponent (25-23) for the second straight game.
“We are proving that we can go head-to-head with bigger teams,” Holloway said. “We did it against Wichita Northwest and then again tonight.”
But even in victory, Garden City had to reflect on a first quarter that saw them shoot just 21 percent (3-of-14). They trailed by three going into the second.
“You could not have started a game any worse from a shooting standpoint,” Holloway admitted. “But we kept playing, and eventually the shots started to fall.”
Yes they did, to the tune of 68 percent over the final three quarters on 21-of-31 from the field.
“We found our groove,” Holloway said. “Once we established a presence, we were good to go.”
Thanks to Garden City’s (6-8, 2-1) cold start from the floor, Ulysses (5-9, 2-3) built a six-point lead in the second quarter after Julius Sifuentes banked in a straight-on 3-pointer. But Zac Karlin answered with two buckets for Garden City, and the Buffaloes trailed by two at the half.
If the second quarter was the warmup, the third was the final act. The Buffaloes outscored Ulysses 21-10, shot 64 percent and forced four turnovers in flipping a once, six-point deficit into a commanding 11-point lead with 3:47 to go in the period. Garden City’s advantage swelled to as many as 14 over the final 16 minutes of action.
“It was important for us to get this one,” Holloway said. “We don’t play for a week, so this gives us a lot of momentum.”
Consider this: Garden City was 0-6 before Christmas. They have now won six out of eight, and are sitting in third place in substate. Not bad for a team left for dead just six weeks ago.
“We basically had to start over,” Holloway said. “But these guys worked very hard during their off time to get this right. We still have a ways to go.”
Karlin scored 10 points for the Buffaloes, who beat the Tigers for the 13th time in their last 15 meetings. Griff Brunson added eight points and Jarrod Springston netted seven.
Bryan Garcia scored a season-high 19 points for the Tigers, who lost their sixth straight game. Jaidon Taylor, who was held to just three points and had six turnovers in the first meeting in the January Jam, scored 13 on 5-of-15 shooting. Zach Zerr was limited to just six points.
Next up: Garden City vs. Dodge City-Tuesday, January 31st-7:30 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and KWKR mobile app
