Broncbusters snap skid; earn home playoff game

By Mike Pilosof

Colby, KS-There was nothing pretty about Monday night's game. But who cares? Antwain Scales will take it even though he certainly wasn't pleased afterwards

Aerihna Afoa scored 17 of her game-high 19 points in the second half, Donetria McGee notched her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 boards, and Garden City squeaked by Colby 58-52 at the Community Building. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak and clinched a home postseason game for the Broncbusters next week.

"I am not happy by any stretch," Scales said afterwards. "We didn't come to play again, plain and simple."

It's hard to argue with what Scales was saying, considering his team's offense struggled for the majority of the first half. They let a six-point second-quarter lead disintegrate in the blink of an eye, hitting just one shot over the final seven minutes of the half. And once Colby hit them with a 12-2 barrage to close the second period, the Broncbusters were down 26-24 going into intermission.

"Some of the stuff we were doing was just unacceptable," Scales mentioned. "We told them again to attack the basket, and they came out shooting jump shots in the second quarter."

It took Garden City a little while to get things going in the third, but once Afoa caught fire in her former home building, it was curtains. The sophomore transfer from Colby nailed three third-quarter triples, the last of which capped a 15-4 run that put Garden City up 44-35 going to the fourth. Then, in the final period, Afoa hit an off-balance midrange jumper from left of the key that gave the brown and gold their biggest advantage of the night 46-35 with 9:18 to play.

Aerihna came to play in the second half, but we still let them hang around," Scales said. "We aren't ready to compete at that high level just yet."

The Broncbusters, who blew a couple of big leads early in the season, nearly let their 11-point cushion go out the window. Katelyn Alatini hit a 3, Dejah Vigilante knifed through the Garden City defense for a layup, and the Broncbuster advantage was down to three. But at that point, Afoa had had enough, and with just over three minutes to play, the sophomore hit a dagger 3 from the top of the key, putting the Broncbusters up by seven.

"Unfortunately, we are displaying some of the same characteristics each game," Scales stated. "I am disappointed because I don't think we came to play today."

Jill Stephens, who played her high school ball at the Community Building, was held scoreless for just the second time this season. She missed all four of her shots. Britney Mapang scored eight points in 33 minutes off the bench, and Elizabeth Sherrill gave Scales good spot minutes off the bench with four points and four rebounds in limited action.

"Liz helped us with Justis (Odom) being out," Scales said. "We just have to get her to be able to fight through when she gets tired."

Odom was a late scratch prompting Scales to start Morgan State transfer Taylor Lawhorne. But the sophomore struggled, scoring just two points on 1-of-7 from the field.

Alatini scored a season high 18 points for Colby, which lost their fourth consecutive game. (Dejah) Vigilante added 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and five steals.