Lady Buffs Use Big Third Quarter To Pull Past Altus
Garden City High School girls basketball team hosted Coronado High School during the Roundball Classic on Friday December 9, 2022 at The Garden in Garden City, Kan. The Lady Buffalos the Cougars 55 - 34. Photo credit; Adam Shrimplin, Shrimplin Photography
GARDEN CITY – The scenes of a new home were a bit much early for Garden City.
Four Buffaloes starters emerged from their bench to the roar of home fans onto a new court at The Garden. It took some time to adjust, to get comfortable with the new surroundings.
Once they got comfortable, the Lady Buffs steamrolled for a fourth-straight win.
The Garden City High School Lady Buffaloes dominated their home opener, racing past the Altus (Ok.) Lady Bulldogs, 54-35, at The Garden on Thursday night. The Lady Buffs dominated the second half, out-scoring the Lady Bulldogs, 32-14.
“Our standard is so high than what it was in the past, so these girls have expectations, now,” head coach Jacob Miller said. “New court, new video board, new environment. We went in at halftime and said ‘hey, ladies, we’ve got 20 turnovers. Clean those turnovers up, and we’re good’.”
The turnovers were a big problem early for Garden City, who committed double-digit turnovers in the first quarter, trailing 14-9 after one. Altus got a very balanced scoring palette in the first eight minutes, with five different Bulldogs getting on the stat sheet.
The second quarter saw Garden City start to stretch the floor, swishing a trio of three-pointers. Sophomore K.J. Pinchon knocked down two, guard Hailey Brown also connected from distance.
GCHS out-scored AHS 13-7 in the second, taking a one-point lead into the half. Out of halftime, Garden City played their best offensive eight minutes of the season.
The Lady Buffaloes surged for 22 third quarter points, pulling ahead by 13 after three. Garden City hit five three pointers, all coming off assists.
“We had a full summer, we went to two team camps, we were able to work together,” Miller said. “These girls are playing together, they’re making shots, and we know that if we take care of the basketball, we’re really hard to beat.”
Senior Kamdyn Carr and Freshman Maya Korf each splashed two three pointers in the third, with Pinchon adding another. Pinchon paced Garden City on the night, scoring 20 points in the victory.
The Buffaloes kept the Bulldogs quiet in the fourth, holding Altus to just two field goals in the closing eight minutes. Garden City keeps their impressive start to the season going with a home opener to remember.
The Lady Buffaloes are back in action tomorrow night against the La Junta High School Tigers at The Garden. Coverage will begin around 6:00 P.M. on KWKR 99.9 ‘The Rock’.
