Garden City loses overtime thriller in Region Quarterfinals

Hutchinson, KS-Three years ago, Garden City suffered one of the most crushing defeats in recent memory: an 81-80 decision to Barton in the Region VI Quarterfinals. On that early spring night in Great Bend, Cole Dewey's team lost a game in which it had a one-point advantage with less than a second to go. 

And while that memory still burns in the minds of Broncbuster fans everywhere, Tuesday night may have topped it, and not it in a good way. 

Kamryn Thomas knocked down two of the biggest shots of his career: a game-tying 30-foot triple at the end of regulation to force overtime and a deep 2-pointer from the left wing at the buzzer in the extra session, sending Hutchinson into the Region VI semifinals with an 88-87 victory at the Sports Arena.  

The transfer from North Idaho College capped off a wild second half, one that saw the Blue Dragons storm back from a 13-point deficit. He finished with 20 points in 32 minutes, John-Paul Ricks, who led Tallahassee to the NJCAA Final Four last season, had 12 points and nine assists, and Valentino Simon tallied 11 points and 13 boards.  

Brody Robinson and Thomas Tut each scored 22 points for Garden City, which finished the season 19-13 overall. Jordan Frazier scored eight of his 13 points in the second half.  

The Broncbusters though will be kicking themselves all summer long after this one.  

Garden City used a 17-3 run in the first half to turn an early 14-1 deficit into a 13-point advantage. They were up 41-33 at the break.  

But the Broncbusters struggled mightily from the field in the early stages of the second half, allowing the Blue Dragons to get back in the game. And when Landon Wagler beat Tut to the rim for a layup, Hutchinson had capped off a 34-20 surge that had the home team up 59-58 with 7:53 remaining. 

The Blue Dragons, more specifically Thomas, had an answer for everything on Tuesday, especially down the stretch.  

After Garden City went back up by five with less than a minute to go in regulation, Thomas buried a short jumper to make it a three-point game. Following a Hutchinson timeout, Dre Weathers fouled Tut, who missed the front end of a one-and-one giving the Blue Dragons a sliver of hope.  

That's all Thomas needed. 

The sophomore banked in a 30-foot prayer over the outstretched arms of Robinson to tie it; then Charles Chukwu missed a game-winning layup on the other end at the horn. The wide-open bunny rolled off the rim as Head Coach, Rusty Elmore could only watch in disbelief. 

In overtime, Garden City took a 78-74 after Chukwu's rim-rattling dunk and Tut's two free throws. But the Blue Dragons eventually took the lead, thanks again to Thomas, who drilled a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 82-81.  

Still, the Broncbusters had every chance to put this one away, and after Jones knocked down two free throws, Garden City led 87-84 with 24 seconds remaining. 

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the story. 

Thomas made a quick layup on Hutchinson's ensuing possession to trim the deficit to one. Moments later, Tut clanged two free throws, setting up Thomas' game winner, a shot that may have been a hair after the buzzer sounded. But it never went to review, and instead, the Blue Dragons celebrated one of the craziest finishes of the year.  

Garden City missed 12 free throws (27-of-39) and shot just 40 percent from the field. They were 6-of-18 from 3 and were outrebounded, 51-50.