GARRISON HAS CAREER GAME; DRAGONS STILL FALL AT GARDEN CITY
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
GARDEN CITY – Sophomore Jayden Garrison poured in a career-high 31 points, but Garden City shot 63.1 percent for the game with eight 3-pointers and the Blue Dragons saw their four-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday.
Garden City's DaJion Humphrey and Buru Naivalurua combined for 65 points as the Bronbusters used a late first-half run and dominated the second half to defeat Hutchinson 117-97 at Conestoga Arena.
The Blue Dragons fall to 12-6 overall and 6-6 in the Jayhawk Conference. Garden City improved to 12-5 overall and 7-5 in the league. Hutchinson travels to Independence on Wednesday to open the second half of league play.
Garrison's career-high 31 points came on 7 of 11 shooting from 3-point range. Garrison matched his career high for 3-pointers – he had seven treys on a 29-point game against Fort Scott on November 1. Those seven 3-pointers tie for second most in Blue Dragon single-game history.
The Blue Dragons shot better than 50 percent for just the second time this season, shooting 52.0 percent (39 of 75) with 13 of 28 shots coming from 3-point range.
But Garden City shot hit 41 of 65 shots with eight 3-pointers for the game. The Busters were 20 of 30 in the second half.
Tied at 47-all late in the first half, the Busters got a 3-pointer from Humphrey and a three-point play from Naivalurua in the final 34 seconds of the period to lead 53-47 at halftime. Garden started the second half on a 6-2 run to build a 59-49 lead with 17:49 remaining. The Busters kept the Dragons at arm's length with sizzling second-half shooting. Garden City outscored Hutchinson 64-50 in the second half.
Humphrey scored a game-high 35 points to lead Garden City. Humphrey was 9 of 12 shooting overall, going 4 of 5 from 3-point range and 13 of 16 from the foul line. The 13 free throws match an individual opponent season high. Naivalurua was 11 of 13 shooting in posting a double-double with 30 points and 12 rebounds.
The Blue Dragons had four players score in double figures.
Ra'Sean Frederick had 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting. Aaron Franklin was held to 16 points. Aaron Potter had 10 points.
Garden City scored 24 points off 20 Blue Dragon turnovers. Garden City had a 27-6 advantage at the free-throw line.
The Dragons had leads as large as seven points in the first half. Steele Gaston-Chapman's bucket with 12:20 to play gave Hutchinson a 22-15 lead.
GAME NOTES – The Dragons allowed 100 or more points for the ninth time this season. … The Dragons are now 140-51 all-time vs. Garden City, including 51-37 in Garden City … Garden City 27 made free throws are second most by an opponent and the 37 attempts are the most by an opponent this season. … The Dragons are now 1-1 this season when shooting 50 percent.