Improbable win! Garden City uses five-point play in final seconds to beat Dodge City

By Mike Pilosof

Dodge City, KS-Belief is a powerful thing. And Interim Head Coach Mike "Scoop" Harding has a team, that has dealt with more adversity this season than maybe anyone in the league, starting to find their groove with two games to play.

Jaleah Bellany dropped in 26 points, Alyssa Boyce added 19, and Garden City, somehow, found a way to beat rival Dodge City 80-78. It's the Broncbusters first three-game winning streak of the season.

"These girls are happy with each other's success," Harding said afterwards. "I don't think that was the case just a couple of weeks ago."

Garden City may not win another game this season. They may knock someone off in the Region Tournament. Who knows? But this much is for sure: the way they responded down three in the final seconds, is a true mark of just how far this team has come since a coaching chance in Dec. could have derailed their season.

Trailing 78-75 with six seconds to play, Bellany inbounded the ball to Corina Suarez-Tudela in the left corner. The freshman, who had made just five shots in her previous five games combined, watched her 3-point attempt, hit the left rim, bounce up in the air, and land inside the net. At the same time, Faith Cattouse tried to push her way through a screen and was called for a foul. After some discussion, the officials counted the basket and awarded Boyce (the screener) two free throws, which she promptly made to put Garden City up 80-78.

"It's an out-of-bounds play that we've always run," Harding explained. "I knew we had to get a shot off quickly so I put two down there. And it worked out perfectly."

Dodge City still had one chance, and Fredrionna Adams got a clean look in the paint. But her runner hit the from rim, giving Garden City an improbable two-point win.

"We knew defense was going to win it for us," Harding said. "On offense though, we got a little helter-skelter to be honest."

There were so many momentum shifts in this game. In the early going, Garden City City jumped out to a 10-point lead. Boyce drilled a 3, Bellany hit from deep, and Dasja Ross completed a three-point play to put the Broncbusters up 13-3 four minutes into the conteset. But then Dodge City completely flipped the script, scoring the next eight points; then tying the tame on Cattouse's fantastic and-1. In all, the Conquistadors closed the period on a 20-5 run to take a 23-19 lead into the second.

"It wasn't a perfect game," Harding said. "At times, our offense couldn't find any rhythm."

Dodge City went up by as many as seven early in the second. But Ariyanna Hall, who came in off the bench to score 12 points, dropped in a 3, McGee finished off and and-1 layup; then banked in a driving hook to close the half, and Garden City was within four, 40-36.

"Our shot selection was poor at times in this game," Harding said.

But that all changed in the third quarter. Garden City used an 11-1 run to grab the lead back, and when Bellany hit another 3, the Broncbusters had a 45-41 edge with 6:07 to go. They were up one going to the fourth and built their lead to as many as 10 after Bellany swished two free throws, making it 67-57 with 6:01 remaining.

"We got a little crazy with the ball in the fourth quarter," Harding said. "And again, our shot selection, at times at the end, was not good."

The Broncbusters gave up an offensive-rebound stick back to Alabama-commit Alana Busby-Dunphy that cut the lead to six. Minutes later, Cattouse and Sydney Thurwalker finished off three-point plays, and just like that, the Conquistadors had a 76-73 advantage with 31 seconds left.  

Then Bellany saved the day.

The sophomore hit an off-balance, runner just right of the lane against Ashia Pool, bringing Garden City back to within one. On the other end, Adams was fouled and hit two free throws, putting Dodge City up 78-75 with 12 seconds on the clock.

McGee netted 10 points and a season-best 13 rebounds for Garden City, who improved to 9-5 this season when leading going into the fourth quarter. Ross dished out five assists in 33 minutes.

Thurwalker recorded her 12^th double-double of the season with 25 points and 13 rebounds for Dodge City, who was riding high coming off Wednesday night's upset win over No. 6 Hutchinson-their first victory over a ranked opponent in more than a decade.

Next up: Garden City vs. Colby-Wednesday, Feb. 19-5:45 p.m. pregame; 6 p.m. tip on 99.9 FM; westernkansasnews.com/kwkr and KWKR mobile app