By Kalon Fullerton
The Butler Grizzlies defeated the Garden City Broncbusters 74-47 in the KJCCC quarterfinal matchup at the Power Plant on Tuesday night. This victory will advance Butler to Friday's semifinals which will be held in Wichita on the campus of Friends University.
The Grizzlies took a 16-12 lead over the Broncbusters going into the second quarter. A Garden City run forced a Butler timeout. Afterward it was all Grizzlies, as Mike Helmer's responded with a 14-0 run to take a 16 point lead into the locker room, outscoring the Broncbusters 21-9 in the second frame. The Grizzlies hit three of their nine shots from beyond the three point line and forced 10 Broncbuster turnovers in the first half.
It was all Grizzlies again in the second half, as they jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the third quarter. Butler would take a 50-27 lead into the fourth quarter and it was all academic from there, as they cruised to a 30 point victory.
Three different players led the way for Butler, as Syncere Harrod led all scorers with 16 points while Jaila Harding and Jada Knight were close behind, scoring 14 and 11 respectively. The Grizzlies' leading scorer Freddie Wallace and Kaylee Nero both finished with nine. Eight different Grizzly players scored in the contest, as Butler was able to get 35 bench points.
The Grizzlies shot 40% as a team and made six of their 14 attempts from deep, and also scored 42 points in the paint. Butler also put in 14 assists, led by Maycee James who finished with four.
Butler stifled the Garden City offense, holding the Broncbusters to just 32% as a team and just 25% from beyond the three point line. The Grizzlies forced 16 turnovers, led by Maycee James' four steals, and were able to convert those turnovers into 11 points. The Grizzlies also dominated the glass, outrebounding the Bronbusters by a margin of 37-27. Wallace led the Grizzlies on the glass, finishing with nine rebounds.
The Grizzlies have now defeated the Broncbusters in the playoffs in three straight seasons and they sweep the season series with the victory. Butler improves to 23-6 and will move on to the semifinals again after missing out last year. The Grizzlies finish the season at 14-2 in the Power Plant and will move on to face the second seeded Barton Cougars at 5 PM on Friday in the Garvey Center. The Grizzlies lost the previous two contests against the Cougars this season and will be hoping to avoid the season sweep and move onto the finals on Saturday.
