Garden City can't hold 17-point lead; loses to Colby

By Mike Pilosof

Colby, KS-Garden City Interim Head Coach, Mike "Scoop" Harding had to be asking himself what in the world changed over the final three quarters. Because during the first 10 minutes, Garden City absolutely manhandled Colby.

The final 30 minutes, now that's another story.

Afiya Vincent posted her first career double-double with 19 points and 15 rebounds, Nyrobi PIllers added 16 points off the bench, and Colby erased a 17-point deficit to beat Garden City 71-64 Wednesday night at the Community Building.

"I think we were feeling ourselves a little bit after that first quarter," Harding said. "We got a little too cocky."

The Broncbusters spent the first part of the game putting on a shooting clinic. They hit 11-of-16 (69 percent) from the floor in the first quarter, fueled in large part by Alyssa Boyce. The sophomore nailed all five of her shots over the first 10 minutes, including her own personal 5-0 run to close the period, giving Garden City a 26-15 advantage. And they didn't cool off there.

Dasja Ross hit a layup, Dashanae Pajeaud rattled home a 17-foot jumper from the wing, Ariyanna Hall picked Brittanie Brickhouse's pocket before laying it in on the other end, and Garden City was up 34-17 with 6:50 to go in the half.

"I'm trying to get through to these girls that when shots aren't falling, they have to be able to do other things," Harding said.

Unfortunately, the well dried up in a hurry. The Broncbusters were held to just two field goals over the final seven minutes. Colby meantime answered with a 20-4 run, spearheaded by Alize Ruiz, who scored all 12 of her points over the final 5:48, cutting Garden City's 17-point lead down to one at the intermission, 38-37.

"Deb (Deborah Ford) is going to think this was a nightmare when she sees the film," Harding said. "She missed a ton of makeable shots. But she wasn't the only one."

That nightmare continued in the third quarter. The Broncbusters misfired on 14 of their 15 shot attempts and were outscored 19-8. Pillers finished off a three-point play, Brickhouse hit from the baseline, and Colby had a 56-46 advantage going to the fourth.

"We missed a lot of open shots again," Harding said. "There's nothing you can draw up that's going to make those shots. They just have to hit them."

The Trojans built their largest lead of the game in the fourth on the back of Pillers's second-chance basket that made it 60-48 with 7:50 remaining.

"We need to find post players who can be physical in there and grab rebounds," Harding said. "We need somebody to box out."

Despite being outplayed from the second quarter on, Garden City gave themselves a chance down the stretch. Tyla Happer hit a 3, Boyce stole the ball before hitting a transition layup, Happer hit 2-of-3 free throws after being fouled shooting a triple, and the Broncbusters were within four, 68-64 with 1:09 to play. But that's as close as they got. Happer missed a 3 from top of the key; then turned the ball over trying to go behind her back on the following possession. Imari Grayson turned those mistakes into three free throws, and Colby put the game away.

"We have to get tougher," Harding said. "We can't just feel sorry for ourselves."

The Trojans grabbed 17 offensive boards and outrebounded Garden City 43-29. They scored 16 second-chance points and outscored the Broncbusters 30-24 in the paint.

Boyce tied a career-high with 25 points on 10-of-11 from the field for Garden City, who lost their third straight game. The rest of the team though combined to go 14-of-49 (29 percent). Ford had 13 points but was just 5-of-16 shooting.

Next up: Garden City vs. Barton-Saturday, Feb. 1-1:45 p.m. pregame; 2 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and KWKR mobile app