By MIKE KESSINGER

mkessinger@gctelegram.com

HUTCHINSON -- It took just a minute and 38 seconds into Saturday's Jayhawk Conference clash at the Sports Arena for things to go bad for Garden City Community College.

From there, it was all Hutchinson needed to stay a top the conference standings and pull away for 78-63 win.

Hit with a technical foul when it was brought to the referee's attention that the Broncbusters Corey Claitt was wearing number 33 instead of his usual 23, which was listed on the roster, Hutchinson took a 1-0 lead on a Bobby Maze free throw. In the ensuing five minutes Maze did all he could to help put the Busters in a 13-point deficit as he scored nine of the Blue Dragons first 11 points.

"We started in zone to try and keep Maze in front of us, and I don't want to say it backfired, but our energy level probably wasn't where it is to start a game," Busters head coach Kris Baumann said. "We tried to slow (Maze) down and keep in front of us, and offensively we just weren't very good in the first half."

The Busters struggles in the first half were more than enough to cause problems for them in the second half as Garden City never put themselves in a situation to make a big run. A Tyrone Flemming 3-pointer got the Busters within 21-14, but Hutchinson worked its lead back to 12 on a Maze jumper. The closest Garden City (14-6, 3-4) got from there before halftime was a Jordan Ragan layup that made it 29-20.

"It was an eye opener tonight," the Busters Trevor Ottley said. "Everybody just wants to come out and beat somebody. We just need to get our mind right and play hard."

Ottley, a 6-foot-8 freshman, was one of the Busters few bright spots as he started at forward. He finished with just eight points, but grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. The point production was something Garden City had been missing from Ottley as the nine shots he took was a season high for him.

Outside of a few other sparks the Busters received though, Hutchinson (17-4, 4-0) held Garden City in check. The Busters went on a 7-0 in the opening minutes of the second half after Hutchinson's Antonio Weary hit a 3-pointer. Weary's basket gave the Blue Dragons a 13-point lead, and the Busters run cut it to a 39-33 game. A Hutchinson run of eight straight put an end to Garden City's comeback though. The Busters never got within nine from there.

"We just have to circle the wagons, we just have to go play Dodge City," Baumann said. "This is just one game. We have to go find a way to put a game plan together and go play Dodge City, because they're our rivals. We have got to put this one behind us as quick as possible."

Garden City shot just 36.4 percent from the floor, which was hampered by the first half when the Busters were 9-of-32 from the floor.

Flemming paced Garden City with a team-high 13 points. He was followed by Sterling Link's 11, and Claitt's 10.

Maze, who has committed to Maryland, led all scorers with 23 points.

We're going to work on communication and sharing the ball and just work on everything on the offense," Ottley said. "Overall, we just need to get better."

The Busters will travel to Dodge City to Wednesday to face the Conquistadors. The game will tip-off at 8 p.m.

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GARDEN CITY(14-6, 3-4): Flemming 6-12 0-0 13, McNabb 0-1 0-0 0, Young 2-7 2-4 8, Ragan 3-13 1-2 8, Tarvin 0-0 0-0 0, Claitt 3-10 3-3 10, Baird 0-0 0-0 0, Ottley 4-9 0-0 8, Brown 2-3 1-4 5, Link 4-11 3-4 11. Totals -- 24-66 10-17 63

HUTCHINSON (17-4, 7-0): Maze 6-12 9-12 23, Edwards 1-2 0-0 2, Mavrak 1-2 0-0 2, Rogers 3-7 2-6 8, Bowman 4-8 3-4 11, Bales 2-8 0-1 6, Weary 2-9 5-7 9, Burgan 0-0 0-0 0, Falley 3-7 0-0 8, Herrera 4-4 1-2 9, Douvier 0-0 0-0 0. Totals -- 26-59 20-33 78

Halftime: 36-26, Hutchinson. 3-Point goals -- Garden City 5-18 (Young 2-5, Ragan 1-5, Claitt 1-5, Flemming 1-2, Ottley 0-1); Hutchinson 6-19 (Bales 2-7, Falley 2-6, Maze 2-3, Edwards 0-1, Rogers 0-1, Weary 0-1); Rebounds -- Garden City 36 (Ottley 7); Hutchinson 48 (Rogers 11). Fouled out -- Ragan, Garden City. Assists -- Garden City 11 (Ragan 5); Hutchinson 15 (Weary 5). Blocks -- Garden City 3 (Link 2); Hutchinson 2 (Bowman 1, Weary 1) . Total fouls -- Garden City 23, Hutchinson 15.