Neves scores 26; Garden City outlasts Colby

By Mike Pilosof

Photo by Connor Pilosof

Colby, KS-Not that Antwain Scales ever needs it, but there is always an extra sense of motivation when Colby pops up on the schedule. After all, he spent two years rebuilding the struggling program.

Kealani Neves scored a career-high 26 points, Dayshawna Carter added eight points and three rebounds off the bench, and Garden City held off the Trojans, 63-61 Saturday afternoon at the Events Center. The Broncbusters improved to 14-7 overall and 9-7 in conference.

Garden City won the game despite only shooting 38 percent from the floor. They outrebounded Colby 36-34 and forced 25 turnovers.

Leading by three at the break, Garden City put the hammer down in the third. Neves nailed a 3, Alexis Smith connected on a couple of deep 2-pointers, and Britney Mapang swished a set shot from 17 feet to put the visitors up, 39-30 with 4:53 left in the period. Keyhana Turner followed with two free throws, Neves swished a pair of freebies, and Garden City had a 15-point edge heading to the fourth. They outscored Colby 25-11 in the quarter.

But everything flipped in the final stanza.

Garden City was held without a field goal for the first five minutes of the fourth. During that same stretch, the Trojans pulled to within three after Jada Moorehead hit two free throws. Once the Broncbusters pushed the lead back to nine, Colby responded again, and Katelyn Alatini's jumper sliced Garden City's lead to 59-56 with 3:29 remaining. The home team even had a chance to tie in the final 30 seconds before Alatini was whistled for an offensive foul. Smith hit 1-of-2 free throws at the other end, and the Broncbusters survived.  

Neves was 8-of-21 from the floor before fouling out with 2:22 to play. Turner finished with seven points and seven boards, and Mapang had seven points on 2-of-5 shooting.

Zoe Wiltz paced Colby with 17 points, and De'jah Vigilante added 11 in 40 minutes.

Next up: Garden City vs. Dodge City-Wednesday, Feb. 2-5:30 p.m. CDT