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Busters hold off Dodge upset bid
Published 2/2/2009 in Sports : GCCC
By MIKE KESSINGER
DODGE CITY — There was a one-minute stretch that may have defined the Garden City Community College men's perseverance more than at any other time in its 68-63 win Saturday.
With 11 minutes left in the game, Dodge City's Dante Redmond hit a 3-pointer to put the Conquistadors ahead 44-42. Thomas Manzano responded for Garden City with a trey of his own, then the Conquistadors got another 3-pointer from Mykael Thompson, and the Broncbusters' Fred Williams answered with one. It was far from determining the outcome, but in that one frenzied minute, the Broncbusters proved they could withstand any Dodge City hits like they had all game. And in the final 10 minutes, it was the kind of push Garden City needed to maintain enough momentum to hold off a feisty Dodge City squad led by freshman guard Rodney Clinkscales.
"They would make a run, we would make a run," Manzano said describing the back-and-forth contrast. "We wanted to stop their run, they'd want to stop our run. When you're going on runs, you're going on runs. The main thing that made the difference in the game I think was Rich (Thomas), Trevor (Ottley), Bobby (Wesley), Reggie (Davis) and I, or whoever was out there gave it everything we've got to pull it out."
In the final Jayhawk Conference Western Division clash before turning to the second part of the conference schedule, Garden City (15-7, 5-3) had to pull the victory out in the Dodge City High School gymnasium. The game was moved to the high school because of the SPIAA League Tournament held at the Civic Center. The change in scenery from a more open arena to an up-close crowd feel didn't bother the Busters.
"Actually, I like it," Manzano said of playing in the high school gym. "You just have to play through it no matter where you play, because at the next level you're going to be playing in front of a whole bunch of people."
Garden City trailed just once in the first half, then by two on the occasions when the Conqs hit the 3-pointers at the mid-point of the second half. Other than those instances, the Busters controlled much of the momentum, building a lead only to watch Dodge City fight its way back.
"I think part of it was (Dodge) would do some nice things against zones to get baskets where they wanted to," GCCC head coach Kris Baumann said. "We shot 64 percent in the second half which is very, very good for our team. I think it was a typical Garden City, Dodge City rivalry game."
After the Busters took a 48-47 lead on Williams' three, Garden City seemed to take control. Wesley spun his way through the Conqs' defense and dished a pass to DeRon Anderson who laid in a short jumper and completed the three-point play with a free throw. On the Conqs' following possession, Anderson stole a pass and threw up an alley-oop to Manzano, who finished it with a dunk to make it 53-47. The Busters lead grew to nine on a Thomas 3-pointer with 6:27 to go.
Dodge City, though, wouldn't go away. By the 4:04 mark, the Conqs closed to within four on a Nick Angelos layup. After Thomas beat the shot clock and nailed a 3-pointer from the corner with three minutes to go putting Garden City up 69-62, Dodge City responded to draw within 71-68.
Clinkscales, who had willed Dodge City back into the game at times, had one final chance to send the game into overtime, but his 3-point attempt from the top of the key circled around the rim and fell out as Thomas cradled the rebound and was fouled with 3.3 seconds to go. He added two free throws to put the final touch to the score.
"It's a credit to Dodge City, their coaches and their kids, they kept fighting all the way to the end," Baumann said. "They had a shot to tie it at the end. We've won three in a row in this rivalry and that's good for our basketball program."
Manzano and Thomas tied for game-high honors in scoring with 21 each. Anderson, who came off the bench, added 13.
Clinkscales scored 20 to pace Dodge City. He was followed by Christia Salazar with 14 and Thompson had 10.
The Busters tied for second in the conference with Hutchinson and Butler will be in El Dorado on Wednesday to face the Grizzlies. The game tips-off at 7:30 p.m.
GCCC 73, Dodge City 68
GCCC (73) -- Anderson 5-7 1-1 13, Wesley 2-4 2-3 6, Manzano 9-15 2-5 21, Stephens 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-1 0, Williams 2-5 0-0 6, Thomas 7-14 4-5 21, Ottley 2-4 2-4 6, Burley 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals -- 27-51 11-19 73.
DCCC (68) -- Jantz 0-0 0-0 0, Perkins 2-2 1-6 5, Coley 1-5 0-0 3, Clinkscales 6-14 4-6 20, Seitz 0-1 1-2 1, Redmond 1-5 0-0 3, Angelos 3-6 3-4 9, Thompson 2-9 4-6 10, Goodson 1-1 1-3 3, Salazar 7-8 0-2 14. Totals -- 23-51 14-29 68.
Halftime -- GCCC, 31-29. 3-Pointers -- GCCC 8-21 (Thomas 3-6, Anderson 2-4, Williams 2-4, Manzano 1-5, Wesley 0-2); DCCC 8-23 (Clinkscales 4-11, Thompson 2-6, Coley 1-3, Redmond 1-3). Rebounds -- GCCC 35 (Manzano 7); DCCC 27 (Salazar 7). Assists -- GCCC 15 (Wesley 7); DCCC 14 (Perkins 7). Blocks -- GCCC 6 (Manzano 2); DCCC 2 (Perkins, Salazar 1). Steals -- GCCC 8 (Manzano 4); DCCC 6 (Perkins, Angelos 2). Turnovers -- GCCC 18, DCCC 14. Totals fouls -- GCCC 21, DCCC 16. Fouled out -- None.
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