The Garden City Telegram

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Lady Buffs cruise by Vikings

Published 2/4/2012 in Sports

By KEVIN THOMPSON

sports@gctelegram.com

WINFIELD — Call the first half a trial run.

Focus, instead, on the second half performance.

On a foreign stage, Garden City found the pickings pretty easy in the second half as it exploited a smaller, turnover-prone Winfield team to cruise to a 46-20 win at Winfield.

The Lady Buffaloes were looking for a momentum boost as they head into final league games next week.

The first game in their weekend road show proved entertaining for the Buffaloes in the final two quarters, as they outscored the Lady Vikings 32-10 in that frame to give the Buffaloes their ninth win of the season.

After poor reviews in the first half, Garden City seemed focused and on a mission coming back from halftime.

After converting just 5-of-18 field goals in the first half, Garden City scored on eight possessions in the third quarter and seven times in the fourth.

That was on 10-of-15 shooting and 11-of-14 free throws in that stretch.

In contrast, Winfield hit only three field goals (all 3-pointers) and one free throw in the entire second half as the Buffaloes bore down and gave coach David Upton a half to remember.

It was the difference between a lackluster effort and a stellar performance for the Lady Buffales, Upton said.

"We pretty much controlled the second half. The second half is how the first half should have gone. We should have been up in the 60's and held them to less than 20," he said.

The tale of the two halves was easy to determine.

Defensively, the Buffaloes got their press working. Offensively, they got the ball into the post more effectively. Passes were more accurate, Upton said.

The first half wasn't pretty, as both teams combined for 34 turnovers and 24 points.

It was a low-scoring affair, but forget that and focus on the second half, Upton said.

"It was another one of those nights where we didn't have any intensity, no fire to us in that first half," he said. "Our defensive effort wasn't there, and definitely our offense wasn't there. The sad thing is, we were prepared. We practiced against a zone, but we get out here and just throw the ball away."

Upton said he told his team at halftime that more turnovers than points wasn't good.

"We challenged them to come out and turn this thing around," he said.

He left the team in the locker room to work it out, he said, and they did.

Garden City's game plan early was to pound the ball inside, using its height advantage, but the Viking defense forced the shots to come from the outside, and most fell short. And when Garden City did get it inside, the shots just wouldn't fall.

And the first-half turnovers (14) almost negated any advantage the Lady Buffaloes might have used.

But Johna McClelland and Taryn Tempel scored Garden City's first nine points of the third period and set the tone for the rest of the game.

Freshman Jaymie Bernbeck, getting her first start of the season, ended the quarter with two layups to give the Buffaloes a 31-16 lead at the break.

No let up in the final quarter, either, as Garden City scored 15 more and stifled any Winfield offensive threat for the win.

Alicia Feck had eight of Winfield's 10 first-half points, including a pair of three's. She ended the game with just one more three-pointer, however, leading the Vikings with 11 points.

Derby is next on this road trip tonight.

"Derby will be coming out for a little revenge," Upton said of the team the Buffaloes handled easily last year. "Everybody says they're a much better team than they were last year. We'd better come out with a little more focus on detail."

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Garden City 46, Winfield 20

Garden City (9-6) 6 8 17 15 -- 46

Winfield (1-12) 5 5 6 4 --20

Garden City (46) - McClelland 4 5-6 13, Curran 1 3-4 5, Heiman 2 0-0 4, Campbell 1 2-4 4, Tempel 2 5-5 9, Miller 2 1-2 5, Bernbeck 3 0-0 6. Totals 15 16-21 46.

Winfield (20) - Thiel 1 0-0 2, Butler 0 1-2 1, Estrada 1 0-0 3, McNutt 1 0-1 3, Feck 4 0-0 11. Totals 7 1-3 20.

3-point goals - Garden City 0, Winfield 5 (Feck 3, Estrad 1, McNutt 1). Rebounds - Garden City 35 (Miller 9, Brunson 5), Winfield 20 (Feck 5). Fouled out - none. Total fouls - Garden City 17, Winfield 14. Turnovers - Garden City 25, Winfield 38.

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