It was split fortunes in Garden City, as the Coffeyville women suffered their first loss of the season 58-46 while the men won 106-104 in double overtime.
The Coffeyville women saw a solid defensive effort spoiled by massive struggles on offense. Shooting just 31 percent from the floor and committing 22 turnovers, the Ravens found themselves unable to executive their usual gameplan for much of the afternoon. Meanwhile, Garden City's Kealani Neves came quickly out of the gate, shooting lights out from 3-point range and creating a lead early on. Although Coffeyville wouldn't let the game get too far out of hand, the Broncbusters slowly expanded their advantage to 15 points before eventually settling for a 27-17 lead at the half.
Things wouldn't get much better in the third quarter. Garden City chewed up the clock and Coffeyville continued to play into the hands of the Broncbuster defense. Despite figuring things out for a solid fourth quarter in which the Ravens would outscore Garden City 19-13, the Ravens would still fall 58-46.
Coffeyville's Faith Simpson led all scorers with 18 points. The Red Raven women are 7-1 on the season and 1-1 in the Jayhawk Conference.
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The men's game featured two teams looking to continue their success despite recent setbecks. Garden City was without its leading scorer due to suspension, while Coffeyville has been plagued by injuries. The teams were virtually even throughout regulation, although the Ravens were the quicker team out of the gate. Taking a 26-16 lead, Coffeyville would see that lead shrink to just two points by halftime, 45-43.
Things got interesting in the second half. Garden City at one point pulled ahead by 13 at 70-57, but a 17-4 run for Coffeyville tied things right back up. The lead never grew to more than a few points after that, but both teams being in the double bonus meant both teams had plenty of chances to add points at the free throw line. With neither team willing to miss from the line, Coffeyville went up 82-79 with under a minute to play in regulation. However, it was not a lead meant to hold as a Garden City 3-pointer sent the Ravens into their second overtime game in a row.
Free throws continued to be important in the extra periods, as the officials showed no signs of laying off the whistle. In total, 28 fouls were called in Saturday's game, leading to 72 shots taken from the charity stripe. The first overtime period game and went, with Garden City missing an opportunity to seal the game after a missed last-second shot. In the second overtime period, it was Coffeyville who ultimately got to the line last, as Dayshawn Wiley sank both to give the Ravens its 106-104 lead. A last-gasp, half-court shot for Garden City fell just short, and the Ravens emerged victorious for their second straight victory.
Wiley put up a season-high 30 points, leading all scorers. Love Bettis scored 20, while Deng Mayar and Jules Bikoy added 17 and 15 respectively. The Ravens are now 6-3 and 2-0 in the Jayhawk Conference.
Both teams will return home on Wednesday, playing host to the Dodge City Conquistadors. You can catch both games on US98.1, KUSN.
