Garden City falls at Hutch; will open Region tourney on the road

Hutchinson, KS-Morgan Browning finished with 19 points on 8-of-16 shooting, Kali Howard posted a double-double off the bench with 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Hutchinson held off Garden City, 72-65 Wednesday night at the Sports Arena. The loss means that the Broncbusters will be the No. 11 seed in the Region VI Tournament and will travel to Seward County on Saturday at 3 p.m.  

Dayshawna Carter scored a game-high 25 points for Garden City, which shot 39 percent from the field and 4-of-8 from 3. They were 15-of-18 at the line and outscored the Blue Dragons, 34-30 in the paint.  

Hutchinson, which finished the regular season at 23-7 overall and 17-7 in conference, shot 40 percent from the floor and 8-of-22 from deep (36 percent). They outrebounded the Broncbusters, 39-38 and had 16 offensive rebounds that led to 20 second-chance points. Mya Williams scored 12 points, and Journey Armstead had 11, four assists, and two steals. 

After digging a 14-point hole in the second quarter, Antwain Scales' team went on the attack. Stevi Yancy nailed a 3, Carter hit two of them; then drove past three different Hutchinson defenders for a layup, and Garden City was within three, 28-25 with 3:06 left. They were down four at the half after outscoring the Blue Dragons 16-8 in the period.   

The Broncbusters eventually took the lead four minutes into the third when Taya Davis shoveled a pass inside to Ariyah Brooks, who put it in softly off the glass for a 34-32 edge. But it was short lived as Natalie Payne rattled home a 3-pointer from the right wing on the Blue Dragons' ensuing possession. Hutchinson stretched the lead to five after three and were up by as many as 11 in the final period. 

Brooks was fantastic in the losing effort, scoring 19 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, her second double-double of the season. She was 8-of-9 from the floor. Demi Black chipped in 11 points in 32 minutes.