The winless streak for the Great Bend High School boys’ basketball team reached six games on Friday night, and it took overtime for Garden City to do it.
In Great Bend’s Western Athletic Conference opener at Panther Fieldhouse, Garden City registered a 42-39 victory after limiting the hosts to only one point in the final two minutes, 51 seconds of OT.
“You want to protect your home floor in the conference,” Great Bend head coach Chris Battin said of his team, which dropped to 1-6 overall, 0-1 in the WAC. “You want to get off to a good start in the conference and we knew it was going to be a good challenge for us.
“We had our opportunities … we just didn’t take advantage of them.”
Trailing 38-37 after the Panthers’ Ethan Henderson converted two free throws, Garden City’s Braden Taylor answered with a three-point play at the 1:13 mark to give the Buffaloes a 40-38 lead.
Great Bend’s Jace Bowman sank 1 of 2 free throws at the 1:02 mark, making it 40-39. It turned out to be the Panthers’ final points.
Garden’s Jake Curran converted a pair of free throws with 11.7 seconds left for its 42-39 edge, which came after Bowman had a short-range jumper from the right baseline trickle off the rim at the 19.2 mark.
In the waning seconds, Great Bend had one final chance after Curran’s makes, but Bowman’s deep 3-pointer from the top of the key bounded off the rim and the Buffs (2-7, 1-1) were able to escape.
Curran led Garden City with 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half, including a trio of 3s.
“We ran a few different things for him in the second half,” Garden City head coach Jacy Holloway said of Curran. “We saved them for the second half on purpose. We ran him off some screens and some different set plays.
“They know (Curran) is our best player, and we know Bowman is their best player. We didn’t do a good job of limiting (Bowman’s) touches.”
Bowman finished with 11 points to lead GBHS, including a pair of 3-pointers.
“We set up some plays for Jace late and he tried his best and they just didn’t fall,” Battin said of Bowman, who left briefly at the 1:32 mark in OT after tweaking an ankle before returning down the stretch. “That’s going to happen sometimes.”
Henderson added eight points and Gabe Joiner came off the bench to score seven points for GBHS, including five in the fourth quarter.
At the end of regulation, Henderson tied the game at 35 after sinking a pair of free throws with 1:17 left, setting the stage for some frantic moments.
After melting the clock, Garden’s Denton Keller shot an air ball from the right corner with just over six seconds left. But Bowman was whistled for a foul after Keller’s miss, sending the Buffs’ Gerardo Holguin to the foul line at the 5.8-second mark. Holguin shot an air ball on the free throw, giving the Panthers another chance in driving the length of the floor.
But guard Matt Marshall was unable to get off a shot before the buzzer sounded as he drove to the basket, sending it to OT.
Battin said Garden City wanted it more than his team, adding that he didn’t like his team’s overall effort.
“We got outrebounded and we got outhustled to the floor, every trip,” Battin said. “I honestly don’t know why we got killed so bad (in the rebounding department). I’m going to have to look at the film. I think a lot of it is just effort.”
Garden City had 40 rebounds, compared to 28 for GBHS, and turnovers — predominantly errant passes — also figured prominently.
“Obviously, you can’t win when you turn it over 17 times and they turned it over only eight,” Battin said. “We’ve got to be better than that.”

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Western Athletic Conference
At Great Bend
Panther Fieldhouse

BOYS

Friday

Garden City 42, Great Bend 39, OT
GREAT BEND (1-6, 0-1)
     Connor Sell 0 0-0 0, Matt Marshall 1 0-0 3, Chad Touslee 1 3-5 5, Brock Ibarra 1 0-0 2, Bryce Beck 0 0-0 0, Gabe Joiner 2 2-2 7, Ethan Henderson 2 4-5 8, Blaise Cain 0 1-2 1, Wyatt Bayless 1 0-0 2, Jace Bowman 4 1-2 11. Totals 12 11-15 39.
GARDEN CITY (2-7, 1-1)
     Evan Riggs 0 2-2 2, Gerardo Holguin 0 0-1 0, Tristin Nanning 0 0-0 0, Cameron Coyle 0 0-0 0, Bo Banner 2 2-4 6, Denton Keller 0 0-0 0, Austin Terpstra 2 1-2 5, Emilio Parr 0 0-0 0, Jake Curran 5 3-5 16, Braden Taylor 4 3-4 11, Jeremy Ensz 1 0-2 2. Totals 14 11-20 42.
Garden City       7   8  10  10   7  —  39
Great Bend        9   4  13    9   4  —  42
    Three-point goals — Great Bend 4 (Bowman 2, Joiner, Marshall); Garden City 3 (Curran 3). Fouled out — Marshall.