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Busters snap 9-game losing streak, beat Cloud County 77-68
Published 2/17/2013 in Sports
By ADAM HOLTaholt@gctelegram.com
Rand Chappell yelled himself hoarse over the past few weeks, and Saturday night, his voice was notably weaker.
Getting a win soothed the pain a bit, though, for the Garden City Community College men's basketball head coach.
For the rest of the Broncbusters, there was noticeable relief in snapping a nine-game losing streak with a 77-68 win over Cloud County at the Perryman Athletic Complex.
"Finally. So tired of that losing stuff, man," freshman forward Jade Cathey said.
For the first time in what seemed like ages, Garden City looked alive on offense for a whole game, and the Busters won the rebounding battle for the first time in three games. The inability to hit from 3-point range, the turnovers, the difficulty in the post that plagued the Busters at times in their losing streak all got cleaned up against the Thunderbirds.
"When you get down, you lose a couple games in a row, you kinda try too hard not to lose," point guard Frank Agholor said. "You lose sight of what's important, in playing the games, sticking to the fundamentals and the basics. I think the last few days, Coach could have gone the opposite way and nagged us about it, but he took the better route; 'Hey guys, remember, just play the game.'"
As a unit, Garden City's forwards had one of their best games of the conference season, even with sophomore Joe Ebondo missing his second straight game with a right knee strain.
Cathey had 21 points, including 15 in the first half, and Arkeem Joseph has continued to improve after being used more over the past few games, scoring six. Mike Chandler added a spark with four points, including a putback dunk, and two blocks in a three-minute span in the middle of the second half. Even reserve Kowan Russell showed some toughness in limited playing time, grabbing a pair of offensive rebounds.
"Our coach actually told us that we really had to work hard if we want to win ? he told the big men that, actually," Cathey said. He was right, we worked hard, and got the win."
With GCCC's guards struggling lately, the boost from the frontcourt was huge.
"That's exactly what it was," Agholor said. "We're losing our leading rebounder, one of the leading rebounders in the nation. So that's a big emphasis. We've been giving up a lot. Coach talked to us, somebody has to step up. I think they took it upon themselves to step up, and they did a great job."
Agholor had 20 points and looked more assertive driving to the rim, finishing 5-of-11 from the field, hitting tough shots, and drawing fouls en route to a 10-of-12 performance at the line.
GCCC (11-17, 3-11 KJCCC) edged CCCC (14-13, 5-8) on the boards, 39-32, with seven Busters grabbing at least three rebounds. Cathey led the way with seven, while Reuben King added six.
Meanwhile, Garden City's offense, which has disappeared at times during the season, shot 47.2 percent from the field. Most of those buckets came from within 10 feet, and Garden City went 5-of-9 from 3-point range, an indication of the improved patience from the Busters ? who were 14-of-60 behind the arc in their previous three games.
"We obviously got to the basket a little more, and finished a few more plays," Chappell said. "Jade was obviously huge in the first half, keeping us in the game. ... I thought Frank got to the basket and the foul line both some, which makes a difference. Other people finished around the basket, too."
King had 10 points, while Chris Hall, who left Wednesday's game against Pratt with a left shoulder injury, returned Saturday to score 11, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc.
A 10-4 run to start the second half turned a one-point halftime deficit into a 40-35 lead with 16 minutes, 42 seconds to play. Agholor's layup in transition with 9:26 to play put Garden up 53-40, but Cloud pulled to within 55-51 by the 6:31 mark.
The Busters responded with a 7-0 run, though, capped by a nice driving finish off a crossover by King. Cathey hit a layup with 2:11 to play to make it 67-57, and the Busters were 10-of-12 down the stretch in free throws, including 3-of-4 from King and 6-of-6 for Agholor.
Concentration was the difference for Garden City.
"I think we came in pretty focused," Cathey said. "More so, it was about the team, more than anything. When stuff wasn't going our way, we just came together as a team."
Gerrae Williams had 19 points to lead the T-Birds, followed by Edward Dyson with 15.
Garden City heads to second-place Seward County for an 8 p.m. game on Wednesday, before finishing at home against Dodge City on Saturday. It's late in the season, but any positives down the stretch are a good thing for the Busters.
"Absolutely," Agholor said. "We have to learn from what we did tonight, and build upon it. We have to. The rebounding, blocking out, just sticking to the basics. Most of all, just having fun. The bench was enthusiastic, and we were just all for each other tonight."
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Cloud County (68) ? Fillyaw 1-8 0-0 2, Williams 6-11 2-3 19, Smith 3-4 1-2 7, Dyson 6-17 1-2 15, Mboup 2-2 0-0 4, Anaekwe 1-2 0-0 2, Robinson 0-1 4-6 4, Tanking 1-3 0-0 3, Okoronkwo 2-2 0-0 4, McDaniel 4-10 0-0 8. Totals 26-60 9-13 68.
Garden City (78) ? Joseph 3-8 0-0 6, Agholor 5-11 10-12 20, King 3-8 2-3 10, Webb 1-4 1-2 4, Cathey 7-12 7-10 21, Jones 0-0 1-2 1, Hall 4-6 0-1 11, Chandler 2-3 0-0 4, Russell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-53 22-31 77.
Halftime ? Cloud County 31-30. 3-point goals ? Cloud County 7-20 (Williams 5-8, Dyson 1-5, Tanking 1-2, McDaniel 0-1, Fillyaw 0-4), Garden City 5-9 (Hall 3-4, King 1-2, Webb 1-2, Agholor 0-1). Fouled out ? Garden City (Cathey). Rebounds ? Cloud County 32 (Williams 5, Mboup 5, Anaekwe 5, McDaniel 5), Garden City 39 (Cathey 7). Assists ? Cloud County 14 (Fillyaw 5), Garden City 7 (Agholor 3). Turnovers ? Cloud County 12, Garden City 12. Technical fouls ? Cloud County (Anaekwe). Total fouls ? Cloud County 23, Garden City 13.
Found 1 comment(s)!
Congrats!
Congrats to the players and coaching staff for the effort to continue to work hard.
Posted by: Jeff Anderson on 2/18/2013