By MARSHALL MOORE

mmoore@gctelegram.com

On the heels of her team's 50-37 loss to Wichita North in the first round of it's Class 6A sub-state bracket, Garden City High School point guard Caitlin Smith was ready to say goodbye to basketball.

Turns out, she just couldn't stay away.

Smith signed a letter of intent Tuesday to play basketball for Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Okla. Smith is the second Lady Buffalo senior to sign with a college this year.

Myranda Munoz signed to play with Bethel College earlier in the year.

"I just wasn't ready to give it up," said Smith, who originally had planned to attend Fort Hays State to concentrate on academics. "It's something I've done my whole life, and to stop playing now just didn't seem right."

The x-foot x-inch Smith leaves the Lady Buffaloes as one of the program's most prolific players. She holds the record for most career assists at Garden City with 193, ranks second in rebounds (387) and third in games played (65). Smith was also a three time all-Western Athletic Conference selection and was named as an Academic All-State selection at the end of this season.

Smith averaged 9.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.8 steals for the Buffaloes last season.

"We're going to miss Caitlin a lot," Garden City head coach David Upton said. "She brought a lot of leadership to the team this year and a lot of intangibles that most people don't see. Every game she played the full 32 minutes 100 percent and never whined, moped or complained about it. She went out there and did her job."

Northwestern Oklahoma State is an NAIA member school and plays in the Sooner Athletic Conference. The Rangers went 7-22 last season with a 5-17 record in conference play, but lose only two seniors off their roster of 29. The team is coached by Milburn Barton, who over 24 years has accumulated a 372-291 record and has the most wins in the program's history.

"It's just her work ethic and the way she plays the game," Barton said of Smith. "Besides being a good basketball player, she's a good person. For us at Northwestern, that's one of the first prerequisites is for us to have good people on the court. It just helps if they're good basketball players, and Caitlin fits that bill."

Smith will be listed as a guard for the Rangers.