Garden City wins regular-season finale; will play Barton in Region VI Opener

Liberal, KS-Ana Ramos Pires scored 13 points, Antonicia Moultrie had 10 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, and Garden City held on to beat Seward County in the regular-season finale, 53-48 Wednesday night at The Greenhouse. 

Jolie Mantz scored 14 points, and Hadiya Kennerly chipped in 13 on 6-of-9 shooting for the Broncbusters, which finished the regular season 13-16 overall and 10-14 in conference. They clinched the No. 9 seed and will travel to Barton for the opening round of the Region VI Tournament on Saturday at 2 p.m. 

Garden City led for most of the game building a 16-point cushion when Moultrie hit a 12-foot pullup in the paint to make it 27-11 with 1:25 left in the half. They were up 27-11 at the break. 

Greg Franklin's squad had 33-17 advantage midway through the third quarter after Ramos Pires hit a spinning two hander from underneath the basket and had a 12-point lead with 3:54 to play in the fourth.

But Seward County, which lost their third straight game to finish 19-11 overall and 14-10 in the Jayhawk, used a 12-2 run, aided by back-to-back turnovers by Ella Reisner in the backcourt to make it a two-point contest with 26 seconds remaining. 

After Kennerly split a pair of free throws for Garden City, the Saints had a chance to tie the game on the other end. But RaMya Kennedy missed an off-balance runner in the paint, and Ari Gordon's follow hit the back iron. Moultrie grabbed the rebound, sank two free throws on the other end, and the Broncbusters polished off their second straight victory.