The Garden City Telegram
Email this story | Add Your Comment
| Read (0) Comments
GCCC Women vs Seward County
Published 1/24/2008 in None : GCCC
By MIKE KESSINGER
mkessinger@gctelegram.com
It wouldn't be hard for Garden City Community College women's basketball coach Jake Ripple be amazed by his teams impressive night from behind the three-point line.
Not when the Lady Broncbusters finish an impressive 12-of-16 from the outside range. Of course, it can all be overlooked pretty quick when the final result is still a loss. On Wednesday at the Perryman Athletic Complex it still was as Seward County pulled away for a 72-62 Jayhawk Conference win.
"I wish we would have done some more things offensively, got some touches inside, but I'm just so proud of our effort tonight," Ripple said. "We shot it real well from the three-point line tonight. Seventy-five percent is a good night, and I'm just real proud of the kids."
While the Lady Busters had plenty to enjoy about their performance there was plenty to be frustrated with. A loss on a night when so much had gone right from the outside shooters can do it that to a team. But, it's not every night a team that shoots so well will be facing a team with a player like Tegan Cunningham.
The 6-foot-1 Australian, who has committed to Oklahoma State, was simply too much for Garden City (7-13, 2-4) to handle. Cunningham dropped in 33 points on the night, doing it from the inside, but not afraid to step out to hit a jumper from 15 feet or more. She shot just one 3-pointer, knocking it down on the run at the first half buzzer from in between the 3-point line and half court.
"She's hands down the best player in the conference," Ripple said of Cunningham. "We've seen just about everyone now, and that kid, who I think is not only the best player in the conference, I think that was about as good as she's played. She was big time tonight."
Garden City went toe-to-toe with Cunningham and the rest of the Lady Saints through the first half. Most of it coming from the Lady Busters outside shooting. Katie Novack put Garden City up 6-0 in the first two minutes as she canned both three-point attempts. It didn't stop there as two more Lady Buster 3-pointers, a jumper, then an Amber Brown driving layup gave Garden City a 16-6 lead.
The Lady Saints did go on a 10-0 run to tie it on a Cunningham coast-to-coast layup, but two straight Whitnie Young 3-pointers gave GCCC a six-point lead.
Seward County (13-7, 4-2) ended the first half with five straight points, topped off by Cunningham's buzzer beating 3-pointer, giving the Lady Saints a three-point lead.
"I told the kids I can't let a game go by without praising them, because they played well," Ripple said.
The Lady Saints took control early in the second half jumping out to a 47-36 lead, then expanding their advantage to as much as 17. Like they had been able to all game though, the Lady Busters fought their way back in a three-minute stretch and got it back within 10, before the game see-sawed in the final two minutes.
Three Lady Busters scored in double-figures led by Young's 18. She was followed by Novack with 12 and Amber Brown had 11. The three combined were 10-of-10 from 3-point range.
Stephani Rhoten was the only other Lady Saint in double-figures besides Cunningham. Rhoten finished with 13 points.
------------
Seward County 33 39 -- 72
Garden City 30 32 -- 62
SEWARD COUNTY (13-7, 3-2): Cunningham 12-23 8-8 33, Binford 3-9 0-0 8, Taylor 0-2 0-0 0, Rhoten 3-5 7-9 13, Noel 3-8 0-0 6, Brown 1-1 0-0 2, Crandall 1-3 0-0 2, Rogers 0-1 0-0 0, Krause 1-1 2-2 4, Pierson 1-4 2-6 4, Gawor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals -- 25-57 19-25 72.
GARDEN CITY (7-13, 2-4): Durler 3-11 0-1 6, Young 7-12 1-2 18, Schmitt 2-9 1-2 6, Novack 4-9 0-0 12, A. Brown 3-6 2-2 11, L. Brown 2-3 0-0 4, Copeland 2-7 0-0 5, Burnett 0-0 0-0 0, Loadholt 0-2 0-0 0. Totals -- 23-59 4-7 62.
3-Point goals -- Seward County 3-9 (Binford 2-5, Cunningham 1-1, Taylor 0-2, Rhoten 0-1); Garden City 12-16 (Novack 4-4, Young 3-3, A. Brown 3-3, Schmitt 1-3, Copeland 1-3). Rebounds -- Seward County 41 (Cunningham 11); Garden City 34 (Schmitt 13). Fouled out -- None. Assists -- Seward County 12 (Rhoten 6); Garden City 7 (A. Brown 4). Blocks -- Seward County 6 (Cunningham 3); Garden City 0. Total fouls -- Seward County 12, Garden City 21.
Found 0 comment(s)!
Twitter Updates
