The Garden City Telegram

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Lady Busters dump DCCC

Published 2/2/2010 in Sports

By KEVIN THOMPSON

sports@gctelegram.com

It was a perfect prescription for what ailed Alaura Sharp.

The Lady Broncbuster coach was looking for something to cure a malady that had struck her team of late. Two losses to conference foes wasn't sitting too well with her.

So why not take a shot of focused play...at home...against a rival. Get a win.

It was an elixir that worked as well as it tasted.

That's what the Broncbusters did Saturday night before a raucous home crowd as they rocked Dodge City 68-49, giving Sharp cause to sit back and say, "Ahhh...."

"I thought we really played (well) in stretches, which is the one thing we need to improve on as a team," she said. "We came out and had some nice energy. Offensively, we did a good job of attacking the basket."

Garden City, struggling of late with some intensity on both sides of the ball, found its energy Saturday night.

After a lackluster first few minutes and falling behind 16-14, the Lady Busters went on a 20-4 scoring run to open up a 34-20 lead by halftime.

That intensity continued as Garden City scored on three fast breaks to open the next half, widening the lead to 52-26 in less than seven minutes. Lamesia Abbott had three fast break layups and three free throws in that spurt and Cheree Freeman had five points.

While Dodge City tried to make a run late, the closest they could get was 15 points as the Broncbusters were able to keep up the pressure on both ends of the court and get a much-needed win.

"When we can get into a transition game, that's when we're at our best and at our most comfortable," Sharp said. "We still need to work in the half court, but we usually build our leads when we get out in transition and that's what happened tonight."

Marisela Rodriguez had a big night for Garden City as she hit for 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Freeman had 13 points and Abbott 12.

The Broncbusters shot 46 percent on the night while holding Dodge City to just 37 percent, including 8-for-25 in the first half, many of those misses coming during the scoring runs.

Garden City out-rebounded Dodge City 44-28, but they also won the turnover game 27-24, something Sharp said her team still needs to pare down if they want to keep making a run in the conference.

"We're still working on the mental side of things," Sharp said. "We had 27 turnovers. Some three-second calls, some silly travels. It's still an area where need to keep improving if we're going to beat good, solid, ranked opponents."

The win puts Garden City near the top of the conference, and with Butler coming in Wednesday, Sharp knows how important it is to keep winning, especially on the home court.

"We're still in the hunt, still in the mix. We need to keep getting better, take care of the ball, and keep improving on defense," she said.

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Garden City 68, Dodge City 49

DODGE CITY (3-19, 1-7) — Stithem 2-14 0-0 4, Jenson 6-12 2-2 15, Ryan 0-1 1-2 1, Sedoc 6-16 4-12 16, Rosas 3-5 2-2 8, Adams 2-3 1-2 5. Totals 19-51 20-20 49.

GARDEN CITY (10-12, 6-2) — Freeman 6-11 1-1 13, Abbott 4-10 3-3 12, Rodriguez 7-12 5-5 19, Naylor 2-4 0-0 4, Mayes 1-7 0-0 2, Gonzalez 1-2m0-0 3, Robins 3-6 2-2 9, Troup 3-7 0-1 6. Totals 27-59, 11-12 68.

Halftime: Garden City 34, Dodge City 20. 3-point goals — Dodge City 1-5 (Jenson 1-4); Garden City 3-11 (Abbott 1-6, Bonzalez 1-2, Robins 1-3). Rebounds — Dodge City 28 (Stithem 6, Adams 5); Garden City 44 (Rodriguez 11, Freeman 8, Mays 7). Fouls — Dodge City 13; Garden City 20. Fouled out — None.

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