The Garden City Telegram
NEW E-Edition!
Subscription
Required
Add Your Comment | Read (0) Comments
Hays beats Buffs at the Garden
Published 2/6/2010 in Prep-Garden City
By KEVIN THOMPSON
sports@gctelegram.com
It was a tough night for the Garden City High School boys team. Playing in what is called "The Garden" must have seemed like some stale plot of ground Friday when, after tied with Western Athletic Conference foe Hays High at halftime, the Buffs fell 52-40.
Hays held the Buffaloes to just one basket in the third quarter while going on a 22-8 run to put the game away.
Hays (11-4) got off to a fast start, going up 6-0 after a pair of free throws, a layup off a turnover and a bucket off a loose ball. Cody Bernbeck's underhand layup at the 5:05 mark got Garden City on the board.
Hays went up 16-11 when Derek Meyer's lay-in hung on the rim then dropped in at the 5:22 mark. That basket was significant because the Indians didn't score another the rest of the half. That field goal drought allowed Garden City back into the game.
Quentin Taylor hit his own soft layup, Chris Ruiz added a basket, Bernbeck dropped in two free throws, and the Buffaloes were down 20-17. Hays held the ball until, with 10 seconds left in the half, Garden City got the ball back. With no time on the clock and a man in his face, Jake Curran nailed a 3-pointer and the game was tied.
Then the tide turned. Tied at 25 at 5:48 in the third quarter, Hays went on a 13-2 run before Bernbeck hit Garden City's only basket of the quarter at 2:00. When the buzzer sounded, Hays was up 42-28.
The Buffaloes tried to come back in the fourth quarter. But Hays met every rally Garden City could throw at them, answering basket for basket. The Indians' height inside proved too much, though, as they were able to thwart the Buffaloes' low-post game and turnovers cost Garden City down the stretch. A stripped ball while driving for a layup was the last straw at 1:49 as Hays was able to run out the clock for the win.
For Hays, it was a tale of two halves.
"It was a battle the first half. It was a real dog fight," Hays coach Rick Keltner said. "We missed layups we should make, and I give Garden credit for that. We also missed too many free throws (6-of-12 in the first half, 12 misses for the game)."
The defensive effort the second half, he said, was the difference.
"I'm really proud of the defensive effort the second half. A 17-3 run is something to be proud of. It means five guys on the court are doing what they're supposed to with some passion and some execution."
For Garden City coach Jeff Tanner, this was one of those nights where the cylinders weren't firing together and the heart of his team wasn't on display.
"We're at that crossroad," he explained. "We thought we were past that and we were starting to compete and get consistent. To beat a team the caliber of Hays, you have to do the little things. We didn't do that."
The offensive effort, he said, is commensurate with the defensive effort.
"When we're effective defensively and flying around the court creating things, we're pretty good offensively as well," Tanner said. "Some teams can overcome that with a 'juggernaut" offense,' but that's not us. We knew going in they were big at every position. We just didn't do what we needed to do."
The Buffaloes had made the most of their shots in the first half, hitting 8-of-12. The second half, however, they were just 5-for-17, and they committed 19 turnovers for the game.
All 10 Hays players who got into the game scored, led by Derek Pfeifer's 11 and Dan Moritz's 10.
"We shot a really good percentage (20-of-38), Keltner said. "Tonight we were strong with the ball. The first half they had us on our heels; we were backing away. They played great defense. The second half we did a better job of going at them. It was really a team win."
The Indians also out-rebounded Garden City 25-16, with 14 of those on the offensive end. Garden City averages 57 points a game, and the Hays defense was the key to that.
"Our body language was great tonight," Keltner said. "Those kids play with passion, and tonight we had a bit of a swagger that we haven't had for a couple of weeks."
Patrick Garcia led Garden City with just seven points.
Garden City (6-7) will try to rebound from the loss as they travel to Derby today (7:30 p.m. start), a tough test by any standard, probably the "hottest team in the state," Tanner said.
"You want another cliche, here's one," he said. "We've got to have a short memory. They are on a roll. They've beaten big-time teams. They're good. It'll take a monster effort to compete with them, but that's exactly what we're looking to do."
------------
HAYS (11-4, 3-0) — Pfeifer 5-7 0-1 11, Moritz 3-6 4-5 10, Niernberger 24 2-3 6, Bombardier 2-3 1-6 5, Meyer 2-7 1-2 5, Tophoj 2-3 0-0 5, Gaughan 2-3 0-1 4, Pfannenstiel 1-2 1-2 3, Rathke 1-2 0-0 2, Herman 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 20-38 10-22 52.
GARDEN CITY (6-7, 1-3) — Garcia 2-4 3-5 7, Bernbeck 2-2 2-2 6, Holguin 0-1 6-6 6, Ruiz 2-3 2-3 6, J. Curran 2-8 0-0 5. Prentice 2-3 0-0 4, Taylor 2-2 0-0 4, K. Curran 1-4 0-0 2, Guerrero 0-2 0-0 0, Alexander 0-0 0-0 0. Totasls 13-29 13-16 40.
Hays 10 10 22 10 -- 52
GCHS 7 13 8 12 -- 40
3-Point goals — Hays 2-9 (Pfeifer 1-1, Tophoj 1-2); Garden City 1-7 (J. Curran 1-5). Rebounds — Hays 25 (Moritz 4, Niernberger 4); Garden City 16 (Holquin 4). Fouls — Hays 15; Garden City 19. Fouled out — Garden City (Garcia).
Found 0 comment(s)!