Broncbusters drop first game of second semester

Garden City, KS-Garden City looked rusty to open the second semester.  

Allie Myers had 14 points and 18 rebounds, Xoe Rosalez scored 25, and Seward County beat Garden City, 71-63 Wednesday night at Conestoga Arena.  

The Broncbuster, which shot just 36 percent from the floor, were thoroughly beaten on the glass, 39-19. They surrendered 12 offensive boards and were almost outrebounded by Myers alone, 19-18. 

"We just didn't execute tonight," Head Coach, Greg Franklin said. "We need to have someone step up and be a vocal leader. But even more than that, we need someone to lead by example." 

Sariah Conley finished with 21 points, and Sierra Driessen, who missed the previous two games because of injury, added 12 in 35 minutes. 

"I'll take blame where blame is due, I always will," Franklin added. "But I'm not going to bail this team out when they don't play hard. We didn't play hard, and Seward County was tougher than us." 

The Broncbusters, which dropped to 10-3 overall and 5-3 in the Jayhawk, looked off from the jump. They were slow on defensive rotations and failed to box out on numerous occasions, leading to the most sizable rebounding disparity in a single game this season. In fact, the Saints had five of their 12 offensive boards in the first 10 minutes of the game, helping the visitors build a seven-point cushion after one. 

"We will need to find ourselves here over the next couple of days," Franklin said emphatically. "And I promise you that we will find it with some very spirited practices." 

Garden City managed to find their footing in the second quarter, using an 11-1 run capped by Conley's step back 3-pointer that pulled the Broncbusters to within one, 32-31 with 1:27 to play in the half. They were down only four at the break.  

"We need to find out who wants it and who wants to be here," Franklin said. "We will find that out over the next couple of days."

But the Broncbusters lost contact in the third. A three-minute scoring drought which saw Seward County rattled off seven straight points, pushed the Saints' lead back to 11. They were up 10 after three and took a 15-point advantage following Rosalzez's triple from the top of the key that made it 68-53 with 3:17 to play.  

Garden City lost the game despite scoring 32 points off 29 Saints' turnovers. But they allowed Seward County to shoot 50 percent from the floor and were outscored, 38-30 in the paint.