Buffaloes punch first ticket to state in four years
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Wichita, KS-It cannot be overstated enough: when Garden City started 0-6, Vegas odds had their chances of making the state tournament slim to none.
Three months later, the Buffaloes defied those bleak odds, thanks to one of the best coaching jobs in recent memory.
Garrett Doll scored 10 points, Zac Karlin added eight, and Garden City won for the first time ever at Wichita North 44-36 Friday night in the substate finals to advance to the state tournament for the first time in four years. The win sets up a showdown with top-ranked Blue Valley Northwest in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
“We’ve made a lot of progress these last couple of months,” Garden City Coach Jacy Holloway said.
Considering where they were back in December, for the Buffaloes to be one of the last eight teams standing is truly remarkable. And while Friday night’s win won’t go down as a historical masterpiece, the end result is all that anyone cared about.
Neither team gained much control over the course of 32 minutes. Wichita North (11-11, 7-9) built an early 12-8 lead before Jarrod Springston hit a jumper and Evan Allen-Mader’s second-chance basket knotted the score going into the second.
Garden City (11-11, 5-3) took their first lead when Karlin drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to put the Buffaloes on top 17-16.
“We are so much better when we stick with what works on offense,” Holloway said. “It’s been that way the entire season.”
After Peyton Hatter’s free throw tied the game at 17, Doll connected on his first field goal of the night: a running 12-footer that gave the brown and white a 19-17 advantage at the half.
There were six ties and one lead change over the first 16 minutes.
“We knew there were certain areas that we needed to attack,” Holloway said. “We did a good job of that, especially in the second half.”
The Redskins began to establish themselves in the third, gaining their largest margin 29-24 after Hatter completed a four-point play and Zach Sterner’s and-1 made it 29-24 with 59 seconds to go in the period. But the Buffaloes came right back. Springston split a pair of freebies, Mader had another second-chance bucket and Griff Brunson hit a free throw to pull Garden City to within two going into the final quarter.
“We gave ourselves a chance,” Holloway said. “If we do that, we are in any game.”
Tye Davis’s layup tied the game at 29 30 seconds into the fourth. Brunson then scored four straight: a jumper and a driving layup, giving the Buffaloes a 34-31 edge and forcing Wichita North Coach Gary Squires to call a timeout.
The Buffaloes never trailed again.
Demarcus Elliott’s layup stretched the lead to four before Doll hit a runner off the glass to make it 38-34. Doll, Brunson and Springston then proceeded to finish the Redskins off at the line.
“This turnaround shows that these guys never quit,” Holloway said. “We know we have a tall order in front of us, but we’ve been facing those types of teams all year.”
Hatter, who came in averaging 21 points over his last four games, scored 15 for Wichita North, who lost for the second straight year to Garden City after winning their first nine matchups with the Buffaloes.
Garden City won the game despite shooting just 39 percent and being outrebounded 24-21. But they limited their mistakes, turning the ball over only eight times compared to the Redskins 17.
“We maximized our possessions,” Holloway said. “Everything else takes care of itself when you do that.”
Notes: Garden City aims for their first state tournament win since 2003 when they knocked off Maize 57-42 in the quarterfinals before losing a thriller to Wichita Southeast in the semifinals 59-56…Wichita North still leads the all-time series with Garden City 9-2…the Buffaloes improved to 11-5 since their 0-6 start…Garden City is now 6-6 all-time under Holloway in the postseason
Next up: Garden City vs. Blue Valley Northwest-Wednesday, Mar. 8-6:15 p.m. pregame; 6:30 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and KWKR mobile app
