Garden City gaining momentum; takes down Hutch at home

Garden City, KS-Don't look now, but Garden City is gaining some steam.  

Antonio Chol scored 24 points, Emmanuel Manyuon posted a double-double with 23 points and 10 assists, and the Broncbusters knocked off Hutchinson, 81-73 Thursday night at Conestoga Arena. 

Boston Harker added 19 points, and Jace Steinmetz drilled three triples for Garden City, which won its third straight game to improve to 14-11 overall and 9-10 in conference.  

State Fair Community College transfer, Isaiah Jackson scored 13 off the bench, and Bo Aldridge had 15 points, five rebounds, and four assists for Hutchinson, which lost for the fourth time in their last six games to drop to 15-9 overall and 11-7 in the Jayhawk.  

Garden City controlled this game for the most part. Manyuon's 3-pointer eight minutes into the contest gave the Broncbusters a 24-14 edge. Harker followed with a triple the next time down the floor, and Isaiah Tisdale's team had their largest lead of the night, 27-16 with 10:59 remaining in the first half.  

After Hutchinson evened things up on Kobe Smith's layup with 7:13 to go, Harker banked home a right-handed floater, Steinmetz hit a 3 from the corner, and the home team was up 34-33 at the break. 

Meantime in the second half, Steinmetz was right in the middle of a 15-6 surge when he connected on a 3-pointer from the wing to give the Broncbusters a 10-point cushion with 16:23 to go. 

Hutchinson got within a single possession when Khalil Arnold hit from deep to make it 60-57 with less than 10 minutes on the clock. But Harker answered with a layup and a triple, Chol grabbed Finn Eriksson's missed 3-pointer before hitting a 24-footer, and Garden City was back up by seven.  

The Blue Dragons never got any closer than four the rest of the way.  

Garden City, which snapped a five-game losing streak to the Blue Dragons, limited Hutchinson to just 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) from beyond the arc. It was their first win in the series since Jan. 14, 2023.