BUFFS ROUNDUP: Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020
Five of Garden City High School’s athletic teams were in action on Tuesday, with the girls and boys bowling hosting Liberal in the opening dual of the Western Athletic Conference season; the boys swimming team on the road at the Hutchinson Invitational, and the boys and girls basketball teams at Liberal for WAC play.
BOWLING
GIRLS
The Lady Buffs opened defense of their 2019 Western Athletic Conference title on Tuesday, Jan. 14, with a shutout of the Liberal Lady Redskins at Garden Bowl.
Holly Bridges (628), Angelina Leeper (610) and Karly Larson (559) swept the top three individual spots in the 3-Game Series portion of the competition, and then the Lady Buffs took all three Baker Format games to complete the 11-0 victory in points earned.
A year ago, the Lady Buffs totaled 83 points of a possible 87 in the WAC race, where there are 11 points in each of the six duals and then 21 additional points at the league meet.
Bridges, a sophomore, rolled games of 246-181-201 for her 628 series while Leeper had games of 187-242-187 en route to her 610 series. Larson posted games of 156-213-190 for her 559 total. The Lady Buffs had game scores of 758-818-765 for their 2,341 total and then had Baker scores of 163-221-216 (600) for an overall pin count of 2,941. The Baker format is where 5 of the team members each bowl two frames, but not in consecutive order.
Rounding out the girls scoring was Emilee Giger (505), Britney Cruz (501) and Jaelyn Grim (451).
The Lady Buffs will return to the lanes on Tuesday, Jan. 21, when they host WAC rival Great Bend at 3 p.m. at Hard Rock Lanes. Great Bend is the traditional other top team in the league.
_____________
Team Scores: Garden City — 3-Game Series: 758-818-765=2341; Baker Scores: 163-221-216=600. Total pins: 2,941. Liberal — 3-Game Series: 593-551-562=1706; Baker Scores: 137-151-134=422. Total pins: 2,128.
Lady Buffs Individual: 1. Holly Bridges (246-181-201=628); 2. Angelina Leeper (187-242-187=610); 3. Karly Larson (156-213-190=559); Emilee Giger (169-148-188=505); Britney Cruz (138-177-186=501); Jaelyn Grim (123-182-146=451).
BOYS
Coming off a championship over the weekend at the prestigious Bishop Carroll Baker Tournament in Wichita, the Buffaloes’ boys bowling team had a solid opening performance in capturing 10 of 11 points against Liberal in the opening dual of the Western Athletic Conference season.
The Buffs, who finished second last year to Great Bend, easily claimed the 3-Game Series portion of the competition with games of 797-815-797 (2409) to outdistance Liberal’s 2,145 pins. In the Baker format, the Buffs won the first two games, only to see their pursuit of a complete sweep of points dashed when Liberal won the final game by one pin, 178-177. But, the Buffs still had a superb start to the dual match schedule.
Leading the way for the Buffs in the individual competition of the 3-Game Series portion was sophomore Kaden Whitehurst with a 582 series, just one pint ahead of teammate Caleb Carr’s 581. Right behind for the third-place medal was Jayce Farr at 579. Zane Roth followed with 553, Ty Weilert at 552 and Dionicio Resendiz at 491.
In the Baker format, the Buffs rolled games of 160-191 to capture the first two points against Liberal’s 111-145 before dropping the final game by the one pin margin.
The Buffs will return to action in their next dual match when they host Great Bend on Jan. 21 (Tuesday) at 3 p.m. at Hard Rock Lanes.
____________________________________
Team Scores: Garden City — 3-Game Series: 797-815-797=2409; Baker Scores: 160-191-177=528; Total Pins: 2,937. Liberal — 3-Game Series: 632-789-724= 2,145; Baker Scores: 111-145-178=434; Total Pins: 2,579.
Buffs Individual: 1. Kaden Whitehurst (180-178-224=582); 2. Caleb Carr (148-245-188= 581); 3. Jayce Farr (214-191-174= 579); Zane Roth (225-158-170=553); Ty Weilert (140-201-211=552); Dionicio Resendiz (178-167-146=491).
BOYS SWIMMING
After capturing their first three varsity meets team titles, the GCHS Buffaloes boys swimming team saw what coach Brian Watkins believes is one of the top teams in Class 5A in Kansas this season when they competed Tuesday at the Hutchinson Invitational.
The McPherson Bullpups rolled up 319 points, Andover Central was second with 244 and the Buffs right behind in third with 242 points.
McPherson may well be the favorite to win Class 5A later this winter, and the Buffs were able to produce some solid performances, getting a couple of gold-medal efforts in winning the 100-yard freestyle from Connor Cupp (53.04) and teammate Jeremiah Bunce right behind in second in 53.27 seconds. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Esai Morales, Kobe Otero, Cupp and Bunce also had a winning effort with a time of 1:38.85.
Devin Chappel placed third in the 500-yard freestyle (5:34.77) and Otero was third in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:10.44). The 400-yard relay team of Chappel, Nathan Morren, Joel Contrarez and Bunce took third with a time of 3:51.07.
The team will return to the pool with a road trip on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at the Hays Invitational.
__________________________
at Hutchinson
Team Scores: 1. McPherson, 319; 2. Andover Central, 244; 3. Garden City, 242; 4. Andover, 233; 5. Buhler, 96; 6. Dodge City, 72; 7. Wichita Classical, 63; 8. Liberal, 21; 9. Hutchinson, 12.
Individual: 100y freestyle: 1. Cupp, 53.04; 2. Bunce, 53.27; 500y freestyle: 3. Chappel, 5:34.77; 200y freestyle relay: 1. (Morales, Otero, Cupp, Bunce), 1:38.85; 100y breaststroke: 3. Otero, 1:10.44; 400y freestyle relay: 3. (Chappel, Morren, Contrarez, Bunce), 3:51.07.
BASKETBALL
BOYS
The Buffaloes boys hit the road to Liberal for their first Western Athletic Conference away battle, and a nine-point scoring differential in the second and third periods spelled the difference in a 52-46 loss to the Redskins.
Tuesday’s setback was the third straight for the Buffs and saw their season mark slip to 4-4 overall and 0-2 in the WAC. They will host Hays High on Friday, Jan. 17, in a scheduled 7:45 tipoff at The Garden.
The Buffs had taken a 10-7 lead after one quarter only to see Liberal tie the game at halftime 22-all with a 15-12 edge in the second period. The third quarter proved pivotal as the Buffs were outscored 15-9 to trail 37-31 heading to the fourth. Both teams tallied 15 points in the final eight minutes.
Azavier Williams scored a game-high and season-high 20 points to pace the Buffs. Williams knocked down 5-of-7 free throws and hit a trio of 3-point baskets. He was the lone double-figure scorer for the Buffs, who were without the services of an injured Aaron Guevara.
Liberal, meanwhile, improved to 5-4 overall and is 2-1 in the WAC, having beaten Dodge City and losing to Hays.
________________________
Garden City 10 12 9 15 — 46
Liberal 7 15 15 15 — 52
Garden City (4-4/0-2) — Rosales 7, Williams 20, Flores 6, Tolbert 4, Wiese 4, Nuzum 5. 3-point goals: Rosales 1, Williams 3, Flores 2, Tolbert 1.
GIRLS
The Lady Buffs knew that the task in going to Liberal to face the highly-regarded Lady Redksins would be a big one.
And it proved to be just that as the Lady Buffs fell 52-15 in a Western Athletic Conference road test Tuesday night. The loss ended a three-game winning streak for coach Matt Pfeifer’s squad.
The Lady Buffs were held scoreless in the first quarter by a smothering Liberal defense and it was 28-4 at halftime and 49-11 after three stanzas. Machia Mullens led the winners with 19 points.
Freshman guard Amaya Gallegos had 6 points to lead the Lady Buffs. Liberal saw its record improve to 8-0 overall and 3-0 in the WAC and the Lady Redskins are currently ranked No. 2 in Class 6A.
The Lady Bufs will return to action on Friday, Jan. 17 when they host the Hays High Lady Indians at 6 p.m. in The Garden.
_____________________________
Garden City 0 4 7 4 — 15
Liberal 13 15 21 3 — 52
Garden City (5-3/1-1) — Beasley 2, Calzonetti 3, Becerril 3, Gallegos 6, Turner 1.
Garden City High School 