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Clawing one out Buffs go to OT for 57-54 win over Panthers.
Published 2/11/2012 in Sports
By BRETT MARSHALL
bmarshall@gctelegram.com
The Garden City High School boys basketball team has had its share of close games this season — and its share of close losses.
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Brad Nading/Telegram Garden City High School’s Tristan Nanninga, center, drives the lane for a basket over Great Bend’s Chad Touslee, left, Matt Marshall and Connor Sell, right, Friday at The Garden.
So when the Buffaloes and Great Bend found themselves in overtime on Friday night at The Garden, one wondered just how this game would be play out.
Rather than suffering another disappointing setback, the Buffs this time found the right combination in the four-minute extra period and produced a 57-54 homecoming victory over the Panthers.
"I think just being able to hang with it, we've been here before and we knew what we had to do," said GCHS coach Jacy Holloway afterward. "We just made some good plays and it's nice to finish a game. We had our chances to put it away in regulation, but we did a lot of good things in overtime."
The victory improves the Buffs to 7-10 overall and more importantly puts them at 4-1 in the Western Athletic Conference, just one game behind leader Dodge City, which is up next at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at The Garden.
"It might not quite be the Hatchet Game, but it's pretty close for us," Holloway said of the upcoming game with the Red Demons. "We've given ourselves an opportunity to battle for the league lead and that's all you can ask."
Holloway said the Buffaloes were much more effective on the defensive end in the second half, especially in overtime as they forced four Great Bend turnovers that led to six of the 12 points in the four-minute period.
"They do a good job and we always have a tough battle," Holloway said of the Panthers and coach Chris Battin. "They're well-coached, they don't turn it over much. You've got to be smart against them. They rarely beat themselves."
The game would have ended in regulation had it not been for a buzzer-tying bank shot by Great Bend's Ethan Henderson that knotted the score at 45. Battin had called timeout with 2.1 seconds left when his first option on offense didn't work. His second one did. Henderson had been a thorn in the Buffs' side all night, as he grabbed 10 boards for the Panthers.
Jake Curran, scoreless in the first half, answered the bell in the second, finishing with 19 points and grabbing a season-high 12 rebounds to pace the Buffs. He was 10-of-15 at the free throw line and scored nine of the team's 12 points in the extra period.
"I think we just started to buckle down more on defense and that created some of the turnovers," Holloway said of the overtime. "Being in the right spots creates those opportunities. Defending home court is big."
Holloway was less than thrilled with his team's early defense when the Panthers were able to break free for four easy fastbreak layups in taking a 13-8 first-quarter lead.
"We were just out there, we lost guys and didn't know exactly where we were supposed to be," Holloway said. "We talked about that at halftime and I think got it straightened out better."
The Buffs got strong efforts from a variety of players, but junior Bo Banner came up big, too, scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds. Junior Austin Terpstra duplicated those numbers, making 3-of-5 field goals and 4-of-6 at the line.
Great Bend got a game-high 20 points from Jace Bowman, including four 3-pointers. The Panthers' long-range bombers were 7-of-15 for the game behind the arc. The Panthers, though, were only 5-of-12 at the free throw line. Both teams committed 14 turnovers in the game.
Great Bend falls to 5-10 overall and 1-4 in the WAC.
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Great Bend 13 8 13 11 9 -- 54
Garden City 8 15 12 10 12 -- 57
Great Bend (54) — Sell 2-6 0-0 5, Marshall 1-5 0-0 2, Touslee 6-10 1-1 13, Beck 0-1 0-0 0, Bowman 7-15 2-4 20, Henderson 3-5 1-5 7, Cain 2-4 0-0 6, Bayless 0-1 0-0 0, Warren 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 21-46 5-12 54.
Garden City (57) — Riggs 0-0 0-0 0, Holguin 1-4 0-0 3, Nanninga 1-2 0-0 2, Coyle 0-0 0-0 0, Banner 4-8 0-0 10, Keller 0-0 0-0 0, Terpstra 3-5 4-6 10, Parr 1-1 0-0 2, Delgado 0-0 0-0 0, Curran 3-14 10-15 19, Taylor 1-6 1-2 3, Ensz 3-3 0-0 6. Totals 17-43 15-23 57.
3-point goals--Great Bend 7-15 (Sell 1-2, Marshall 0-2, Bowman 4-8, Cain 2-3), Garden City 6-14 (Holguin 1-1, Banner 2-2, Curran 3-11). Rebounds--Great Bend 30 (Henderson 10), Garden City 33 (Curran 12). Turnovers--Great Bend 14, Garden City 14. Fouls--Great Bend 17, Garden City 9. Fouled out--Great Bend (Sell, Henderson).
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