Defining win: Garden City storms back from 16 down in fourth

Arkansas City, KS-Season-defining wins don't normally happen in December. But Saturday's comeback victory may go down as one of the biggest in recent memory.  

Sierra Driessen scored 18 of her game-high 25 points in the second half, Stevi Yancy hit five 3-pointers, and Garden City erased a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Cowley, 64-59 at W.S. Scott Auditorium.  

"I have to stop overthinking things," Head Coach, Greg Franklin said afterwards. "We have seven kids right now, and I tried to put us in a matchup, man-to-man zone. This was probably closer than it should have been, but blame me for that because again, too much overthinking." 

Ana Ramos Pires added 12 points and eight rebounds before fouling out in the final minute for Garden City, which improved to 9-1 overall and 4-1 in conference play. 

"We have a lot of kids who flourish when we put pressure on the other team," Franklin added. 

The Broncbusters won the game despite a 3-point barrage from Cowley, which hit 10-of-19 from beyond the arc. But Garden City tightened things up, especially over the final 10 minutes, forcing 28 turnovers that led to 26 points. 

"These kids kept playing despite other things that were totally out of their control," Franklin said. 

A 27-5 Cowley run turned a six-point Garden City advantage into a 55-39 deficit after Jaiden Smith knocked down a deep 2-pointer over Maya Nieto with 5:40 remaining in the fourth.  

Instead of calling a timeout, Franklin implored his team to keep playing. Pires knocked down a free throw, Driessen stole the ball from Ndack Mbengue before finishing with a twisting layuyp, Antonicia Moultrie made a driving runner in the paint following another Cowley turnover, and Garden City was down 11. 

"For most of the game, I probably stymied our team," Franklin admitted. "That's on me." 

After a Tiger timeout, Neito nailed a jump shot, Yancy turned a missed layup on one end into a triple from the wing on the other, and Driessen hit a 12 footer in the paint, pulling Garden City to within three, 55-52 with 3:16 to play.  

"Sierra is a heck of a two-way player, who wreaks havoc on the basketball," Franklin stated.  

Moultrie followed Driessen's missed layup with a two-foot banker, and Yancy banked in a layup following another steal by Driessen, polishing off a 17-0 run that put Garden City up 56-55 with 2:18 on the clock. 17 points in just over three minutes.  

"For us to come back on the road like this against a very well-coached team in Cowley, it tells me that our kids our really growing," Franklin said.  

Once Cowley went back up by one after two free throws by Hattie Pyle, Nieto gave the Broncbusters the lead for good with a two-handed push shot off the window. Driessen added a floater from just inside the foul line; then made a layup to give Garden City a 62-57 cushion with 38 seconds remaining. 

"We figured some things out down the stretch, and we found a way," Franklin said. 

Garden City, which is off to their best start since beginning the 2012-13 campaign 15-0, shot 43 percent from the floor. They were 11-of-18 (61 percent) in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Tigers 27-18 over the final 10 minutes. 

Anna Przyszlak paced Cowley (7-4, 1-4) with 18 points and seven rebounds in 37 minutes for Cowley. Aiyanna Big Man chipped in 15 points and was 3-of-4 from deep off the bench.