Holcomb Splits with Garden City in Clarion Inn Roundball Classic

Garden City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–

Courtesy of Benjamin Hutchinson

The Holcomb Longhorns split with the Garden City Buffaloes in the final round of the Clarion Classic. The Lady Longhorns won 51-49 while the Longhorn Boys lost 68-53.

Holcomb Girls 51, Garden City 49
The Lady Longhorns started slow and were down as many as 13 points in the first quarter. They finished the first half on a 15-6 run and were down to Garden at halftime 21-17. The Longhorns came out strong in the second half, Nicole Ruda with 8 straight points for Holcomb to start the third quarter. The Longhorns took a 36-29 lead to end the third quarter after a big three pointer by Halle Jones. Garden would not go away and clawed back into it and took a 42-41 lead with three minutes to go in the game. But the Longhorns weathered the storm and hit key free throws down the stretch to have a 51-47 lead. Garden would get a big bucket under five seconds to go and then a steal and a missed shot would seal the Longhorn victory 51-49. Two players fouled out for Garden City in Lucas, and Gallegos. Ruda fouled out for Holcomb.

Garden City shot 11/34 from 2pt, 6/24 from 3pt, and 9/16 from the free throw line. They had 24 rebounds, 9 of them offensive rebounds. They had 16 turnovers. Garden was led by Aileen Becerril with 14 points, Kristen Roth with 10 points and 7 rebounds, and Makenzie Lucas with 10 points and 6 rebounds.

Holcomb shot 14/27 from 2pt, 3/15 from 3pt, and 14/25 from the free throw line. They had 27 rebounds, 6 of which were offensive rebounds. The Longhorns had 19 turnovers. Holcomb was led by Halle Jones with 7 points and 9 rebounds, Nicole Ruda with 13 points and 5 rebounds, and Jera Kruleski with 15 points(7/8 at the free throw line). Jera was named to the all tournament team.

The Lady Longhorns went 2-1 in the Clarion Classic and are now 2-2 on the season.

Holcomb Coach Andrea Ardery

Garden City Boys 68, Holcomb 53
The Longhorn Boys came out sluggish but had a lead 12-9 going into the 2nd quarter. They would stretch it to a 23-16 lead with 2:45 to go in the first half. Garden City would go on a 15-0 run that spanned almost 6 minutes. Holcomb still had the lead at halftime 23-21 but quickly lost it in the third quarter. Garden City did not let up, even after Holcomb finally broke the long scoring drought and Garden City led 47-36 going into the 4th. Holcomb was down as many as 15 points a couple of times and could never get closer than 10 points in the final frame. And would eventually lose to Garden City 68-53. Kaden Johnson and Luke Tolbert fouled out for the Longhorns who dealt with foul trouble all night.

Garden City shot 19/35 from 2pt, 3/13 from 3pt, and 18/22 from the free throw line. They had 16 rebounds, five of which were offensive rebounds. Garden City had 13 turnovers. The Buffaloes were led by Caleb Wiese with 13 points, all in the 2nd half, Tae Rosales with 17 points, and Jace Steinmetz with 20 points,18 of those in the 2nd half.

Holcomb shot 14/24 from 2pt, 4/14 from 3pt and 13/27 from the free throw line. They had 20 rebounds, six of which were offensive boards. Holcomb had 20 turnovers. The Longhorns were led by Cooper Autry with nine points and nine rebounds, Kaden Johnson with 11 points, and Damon Mesa with 11 points.

The Longhorns Boys went 2-1 in the Classic and are now 3-1 on the season,

Coach Chad Novack Postgame