Broncbusters split with Cowley on the road

Arkansas City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Playing on the road for a second conseuctive game, Garden City went on the road to Arkansas City to face the Cowley Tigers Saturday afternoon. It would be a split of the doubleheader, as the Lady Busters made a furious rally in the fourth quarter to take a 64-59 win, while the Buster men’s comeback fell short 78-69.

Garden City Women 64, Cowley 59
This game will go down as one of the best comebacks in program history. Garden City led for most of the first half, as they took a 16-9 lead after the opening frame, on the heels of a 14-3 run. Their lead grew to 19-11 early in the second quarter, as Cowley (7-4, 1-4) would fight back and pull to within 19-18 at the midway part of the second period. The Lady Busters took a 26-20 halftime lead. Trailing 34-28 with 5:04 left in the third quarter, the Lady Tigers would take the lead, using a 13-0 run to lead 41-34 late in the third quarter. Cowley would grow their lead to 55-39 with 5:39 left. It looked as if Garden City (9-1, 4-1) would be down and out of it. The Lady Busters made a comeback, and made a statement. A 17-0 run over the next three minutes put them in the lead at 56-55 with 2:11 left. A pair of free throws would give the Lady Tigers a brief lead with under two minutes left at 57-56. Garden City woudl score eight of the final ten points to escape with a 64-59 win. 

Sierra Driessen scored 18 of her 25 points in the second half to lead the Lady Busters, while Stevi Yancy added 17 points and Ana Ramos Pires had 12 points. Anna Przyszlak led Cowley with 18 points, while Aiyanna Big Man came off the bench to score 15 points, as they have dropped four straight games. 

Coach Greg Franklin Postgame

Cowley Men 78, Garden City 69
The Broncbusters were looking to avoid their second straight conference loss against one of the hottest teams in the conference in Cowley. Garden City would lead 10-8 with about 14 minutes left in the first alf. Afte that, the Tigers never trailed the rest of the way. A run of 18-2 putt Cowley (10-1, 5-0) 26-12 with 10:26 left before halftime. The closest the Busters got would be 10, before trailing 41-29 at the break. Garden City scored the first three points of the second half to trail 41-32, but an 11-3 run gave the Tigers their largest lead of the game in that stretch at 18 points. The Busters would slowly chip into the deficit. Trailing 58-43 with 12:56 left, Garden City (6-4, 3-2) used an 18-4 run to pull to within 62-21 with 5:49 left. Cowley answered with five straight, and the closest the Busters could get the rest of the way was at 70-67 with 3:17 left. The Tigers hit their free throws down the stretch to take a 78-69 win.

Leading the way for Cowley was Jeff Nwankwo with 26 points, and Arzhante Dallas added 17 points. Garden City was led by Braxton Jones with 22 points, while Brody Robinson had 13 points, and coming off the bench were Thomas Tut and Jordan Frazier, who added 13 and 11 points respectiveley.

Garden City will have a big double header on Wednesday night, as a pair of nationally-ranked teams from Butler Community College vistit Conestoga Arena. Cowley heads to Cloud County on Wednesday.