Boys basketball wins Jam opener; boys, girls wrestlers sweep Liberal in WAC

BUFFS ROUNDUP: Friday, January 24, 2020

On Thursday, Jan. 23, the Garden City High School boys basketball team won its opening round game of the Valley Center January Jam for the second year in a row. On the same evening, the Buffaloes girls and boys wrestling teams swept past Liberal in Western Athletic Conference dual action. The Lady Buffs won 24-20 while the boys captured a 44-16 match win.

BOYS BASKETBALL

In the early stages of the third quarter of Thursday’s opening round game of the Valley Center January Jam, the Garden City Buffaloes enjoyed a 16-point lead.

But that disappeared over the final minutes of the third period and the early moments of the fourth quarter and the Buffs found themselves down by four points with just three minutes remaining.

The Buffs, however, made some key free throws down the stretch, primarily from Isaac Flores (5-of-6) to sneak out with a 50-45 triumph over Coffeyville.

Thursday’s victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the Buffs and evened their season record at 5-5. The win also advanced them into Friday’s 6:30 p.m. semifinal battle against Shawnee Mission East, a 67-64 winner over Maize South in its first-round match-up.

Lower bracket games saw Wichita Southeast roll by Ulysses, 73-52, and Blue Valley-West outscore host Valley Center, 82-74. That semifinal game will be at 8 p.m. Friday.

The Buffs led just 13-12 after one quarter and extended the lead to 26-23 at halftime and then built their big lead in the first few minutes of the third. By the end of the period, though, the Tornado had cut the lead to 36-32.

Garden City lost the lead at 41-41 before going on a 9-4 run in the final three minutes to capture the victory.

Flores, who was 4-of-9 from the floor, finished with a game-high 14 points to pace the Buffs. Azavier Williams, who hit 2 of the 3 treys for the Buffs, also reached double figures with 10 points. Brennden Graham and Tariq Logan led Coffeyville (2-8) with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The Buffs hit 16-of-32 shots from 2-point range but were only 3-of-13 from behind the arc and just 9-of-18 at the free throw stripe. The Buffs were out-rebounded 37-24, with Carson Tanner grabbing six boards.

On turnovers, the Buffs lost the ball 19 times, including 16 in the final half while forcing 18 miscues from Coffeyville.

The consolation match-ups for Friday will see Coffeyville vs. Maize South at 3:30 p.m. and Ulysses vs. Valley Center at 5 p.m. The tournament concludes Saturday and a win in the semis puts the Buffs into the title game at 4:30 p.m., while a loss will have them in the third-place game at 3 p.m.

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Coffeyville (2-8) — Barrett 0-1 2-2 2, Newton 2-8 0-0 6, Viets 2-8 3-3 7, Jones 1-4 0-0 2, Logan 3-9 4-5 10, Bromley 0-1 0-0 0, Graham 5-7 1-5 12, Herring 2-7 2-3 6. Totals 15-45 12-18 45.

Garden City (5-5) — Rosales 2-7 2-3 6, Williams 4-9 0-2 10, Reyes 0-2 0-0 0, Flores 4-9 5-6 14, Tolbert 0-2 0-0 0, Wiese 3-8 0-3 6, Tanner 1-2 0-0 2, Guevara 0-1 2-2 2, Nuzum 5-5 0-2 10. Totals 19-45 9-18 50.

Coffeyville  12  11  9  13  — 45

Garden City  13  13  10  14  — 50

3-point goals: Coffeyville 3-13 (Newton 2-3, Viets 0-5, Logan 0-3, Graham 1-1, Herring 0-1), Garden City 3-13 (Rosales 0-4, Williams 2-5, Flores 1-2, Tolbert 0-1, Guevara 0-1). Fouls: Coffeyville 15, Garden City 17. Turnovers: Coffeyville 18, Garden City 19. Assists: Coffeyville 8, Garden City 10. Steals: Coffeyville 10, Garden City 8. Rebounds: Coffeyville 37 (Jones 10), Garden City 24 (Tanner 6).

WRESTLING

BOYS

The GCHS Buffaloes boys won 11 of the 14 weight divisions en route to their WAC dual match triumph at Liberal on Thursday, Jan. 23.

Gael Terrazas opened with a 14-7 decision at 106 pounds, followed by Alex Hands with a fall at 113 pounds. Defending state champion Silas Pineda earned a 5-0 decision at 120 pounds and Ryan Heiman followed with an 18-4 major decision at 126 pounds.

Sebastian Rodriguez squeaked out a 5-3 decision at 132 pounds and two-time state champ Jacob Holt won by fall at 3:12 of the second period in his 138-pound bout. Erick Dominguez won a 12-3 major decision in the 145-pound division and Josh Janas had a 7-1 decision at 152 pounds.

Jared Arellano earned a 6-2 decision at 160 pounds and Alex Rodriguez got his winswith a 6-3 decision at 170 pounds. The Buffs dropped matches at 182, 220 and 285 while Ryan Wessels had victory  by fall at 3:23 of the second period at 195 pounds.

The Buffs left Friday morning for the Hays Invitational, with that tourney scheduled to begin by mid-afternoon and was to conclude on Saturday. Next week, the Buffs will host Great Bend in a dual match on Thursday, Jan. 30, before hosting the prestigious Rocky Welton Invitational on Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at The Garden.

GIRLS

The Lady Buffs continued their successful season with a hard-fought 24-20 victory over their Liberal counterparts Thursday in Liberal.

It was a roller-coaster battle between the teams as Liberal led 11-0 before the Lady Buffs went back up 12-11 with wins by Sara Chapa at 120 pounds and Belle Hernandez, also at 120 pounds, both coming by falls.

Anjelina Serrano won by fall at 138 pounds only to see Liberal win the other 138-pound match, leaving the score at 18-17 in favor of the Buffs. Liberal won the 152-pound bout by a decision to take a 20-18 advantage before Alondra Guzman won by fall at the 5:20 mark of the final period, just 40 seconds away from the end of regulation. That six points was the deciding outcome of the team victory.