Barton comes from 15 down to beat Garden City

By Mike Pilosof

Photos by Adam Shrimplin

Garden City, KS-Garden City's second-half woes continue to haunt Interim Coach Mike "Scoop" Harding. And it's not an easy pill to swallow.

D'Shonda Hunt scored 19 points, Queen Ulabo notched a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Barton stormed back from 15 down to beat the Broncbusters 80-79 Saturday afternoon at Conestoga Arena.

"We played tough," Harding said after the game. "We just didn't get shots to fall for us at the end."

This marks the second straight game that the Broncbusters blew a double-digit lead. On Wednesday, Colby erased a 17-point deficit.

"I don't think we guarded very well," Harding said. "We couldn't keep people in front of us. They broke us down off the dribble a lot."

For the Cougars, this game epitomized their season. They came back from 20 down to beat Allen and overcame a 21-point deficit to take down Neosho on Dec. 11.

"We have to figure out a way to close games," Harding said.

The first half of Saturday's game mirrored the first half of Wednesday's. The Broncbusters couldn't miss, nailing 10 3's in the first 20 minutes including Dasja Ross's long ball that put Garden City up 43-28 with 3:33 to play in the second.

"I think our offense has really gotten better," Harding said. "I don't worry as much about the offense as I do our defense. That has to improve."

Garden City was up 11 at the break and by 12 after Donetria McGee rattled home two free throws to make it 64-52 with 1:15 remaining in the third. It was a 10-point game heading into the fourth.

"This whole thing is mind boggling," Harding said. "We just have to fight to the end. We're going to be undersized the rest of the way, so we have to figure it out."

In the final period, Dashanae Pajeaud and Ariyanna Hall hit back-to-back layups, and Garden City was up 70-58. That's when everything went south.

Ulabo got to the rim, Vanessa Oduah completed a three-point play, and Barton was within eight. Moments later, Hunt laid the ball in softly off the glass while absorbing a hit from Corina Suarez-Tudela; then beat Pajeaud to the basket on consecutive possessions to slice the deficit to four, 77-73 with 2:14 left.

"It was just hard for our girls to stay in front of them; especially inside," Harding said. "We always talk about guard your yard. We didn't guard the yard today."

Alyssa Boyce answered with a layup to stretch the lead back to six with 1:50 to go. But Garden City never scored again. Hunt added another deuce, Oduah hit two free throws before finishing off a three-point play, and Barton was on top 80-79 with 35 seconds remaining.

"At some point, something is bound to crack and go our way," Harding said.

It just didn't happen on this day.

With a chance to win the game late, Jaleah Bellany couldn't get free along the right baseline, and her jumper was swatted by Ulabo at the buzzer, completing a crazy turnaround in which Barton outscored Garden City 24-13 over the final 10 minutes. Garden City managed just two field goals over the final seven minutes.

"We just have to keep working," Harding added.

The Cougars outrebounded the Broncbusters 42-31 and recorded 11 steals. Oduah tallied 17 points in 33 minutes, and Hannah Valentine came off the bench to score eight.

Bellany finished with 17 points for Garden City, but missed 12 of her 18 shots. Suarez-Tudela hit a season-high four 3's and scored 16, and Pajeaud had 12 points and nine boards.

Next up: Garden City vs. Seward-Wednesday, Feb. 5-5:45 p.m. pregame; 6 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and KWKR mobile app