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Wesley sparks late Broncbusters' rally in Region 6 victory at Independence
Published 3/3/2010 in Sports
By MIKE KESSINGER
mkessinger@gctelegram.com
INDEPENDENCE — When the season is finished and all of the post season conference, region and national honors are handed out he probably won't be among the top names on any of the lists.
But ask Garden City Community College coach Kris Baumann if any of that matters when it comes to Bobby Wesley and he'll most likely tell you it doesn't. What does matter to Baumann and the Broncbusters' men's basketball team, though, is that Wesley has always done what he can to help the team win. The Region 6 tournament first round at Independence was the perfect example.
With the Broncbusters defense of the region title in limbo, the sophomore point guard helped will GCCC to a 65-62 win over the Pirates and send them to Wichita for the quarterfinals that will be played Saturday.
"He wouldn't let us lose," Baumann said of Wesley. "He played like he's got a championship ring and he wants another one. He wouldn't let us lose. All those people that say he couldn't shoot — I got something to show them."
Trailing by five, Wesley put on an offensive show with two 3-pointers and what was finished as an underhanded scoop layup all in the final 3:15 of the game. His second trey knotted the score at 61-61 with 1:20 to go. From there, Wesley got a lending hand from his teammates as guard Chris McHenry gave GCCC a two-point lead with a running jumper in the lane with 28 seconds left. After the Pirates pulled within one on Dereick Washington free throw, McHenry hit the first of two charity shots. He missed the second and Eric Griffin got the rebound for the Busters and was fouled. Griffin hit the first and missed the second. Independence, the No. 3 seed from the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division had one chance with 4.3 seconds to go. The opportunity would fall to the ground as Washington's wide open 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the iron.
"We just came out fighting," Wesley said. "Honestly, I can say this was one of the toughest games this year we've been in. (Independence) came out playing hard. They executed, they had us down. We were rattled at some point, then we bounced back and came together. Chris did an excellent job of leading us."
Whether it was Wesley or McHenry leading the offense from their guard spots, the Busters overcame problems throughout the 40 minutes. The Pirates had GCCC (17-14) on its heels early, building a 27-16 lead in the first half off of the Pirates' Anthony Downing 3-pointer. The Busters mounted a 4-0 run before halftime in the final minute on a Travis Burley putback, then Michael Morales scored a reverse layup at the buzzer off a pass from McHenry, who had an open 3-point look.
"I'm just happy with the kids," Baumann said. "It was an ugly game. It was back-and-forth, and we couldn't stop them, and they couldn't stop us."
The Busters were able to overcome a 10-of-31 shot performance (32.3 percent) in the first half and a few other obstacles in the second half. At the 15:04 mark in the second half, Burley was fouled, but out of frustration with the physical play, he slammed the ball to the ground and it sailed high into the air. Burley was given a technical foul. A free throw put GCCC down by six. The Busters overcame the trouble and as time expired celebrated their advancement.
McHenry, who was just 5-of-20 from the floor, led four Busters in double-figures with 13 points. Burley and Vince Banks had 12 points apiece and Griffin added 11. Griffin and Burley each had a double-double, grabbing 14 and 13 rebounds.
Independence (19-13), outrebounded by the Busters 46-39, were led by Bobby Jones with 16 points. Tokie Aromona had 15 points and Downing added 10.
"We just didn't want to give up," said Wesley, who's total point count of eight all came in the final 3:15.
The Busters (17-14) will play at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Koch Arena on the Wichita State campus against Western Division foe and No. 2 seed Hutchinson (28-3). GCCC is the No. 6 seed from the West. The teams split their regular season games, each winning on the other's home court.
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GCCC 65, Independence 62
GCCC (17-14) — McHenry 5-20 2-4 13, Morales 1-1 0-0 2, Wesley 3-8 0-1 8, Jirmnson 0-8 0-0 0, Griffin 3-4 4-7 10, Brown 1-1 0-0 3, Banks 5-8 1-1 12, Burley 5-7 2-2 12, Jackson 2-3 1-2 5. Totals — 25-60 10-17 65.
INDEPENDENCE (19-13) -- Washington 2-8 2-5 7, McKenzie 1-4 2-2 4, A. Downing 4-10 0-0 10, Aromona 4-14 7-8 15, Jones 6-10 4-6 16, Magg-Downing 1-4 1-3 3, Carter 0-0 0-0 0, Ensley 3-8 1-1 7, Smith 0-2 0-0 0. Totals — 21-60 17-25 62.
Halftime — Indy, 31-24. 3-point goals — GCCC 5-24 (Wesley 2-5, McHenry 1-10, Banks 1-4, Brown 1-1, Jirmnson 0-4); Indy 3-16 (Downing 2-5, Washington 1-6, McKenzie 0-2, Magg-Downing 0-2, Aromona 0-1). Rebounds — GCCC 46 (Griffin 14, Burley 13); Indy 39 (three with 6). Assists — GCCC 12 (McHenry, Wesley 5); Indy 13 (Washington 4). Blocks — GCCC 5 (Griffin 3); Indy 1 (Ensley 1). Steals — GCCC 2 (Wesley, Jirmnson 1); Indy 3 (McKenzie 2). Fouled out — GCCC, Banks, Burley. Team fouls — GCCC 22, Indy 15. Turnovers — GCCC 16, Indy 15. Technical — GCCC, Burley.
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