EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
The first three quarters ended with buzzer-beating baskets by both Garden City and Liberal Tuesday in The Big House, but the one shot Liberal needed at the final buzzer clanked off the rim, and the Redskins fell 74-71.
Garden City used four three pointers in the first quarter including a half court shot that banked in at the buzzer to build a 20-11 lead.
The Redskins defended the perimeter better in the second quarter and only allowed one three pointer in the second quarter. But the Redskins still struggled to keep pace with the Buffaloes and was outscored 19-11 in the period until James Fieser fired up a half court three at the buzzer that sailed through the net and cut Garden City’s halftime lead to 39-25.
But after being shut out in the first half, Eathan Hernandez came alive in the second half starting with a pair of baskets in the third quarter to go along with three pointers from Fieser, Juan Diego and Adrian Moreno, and the Redskins finished the period with another buzzer beater to cut the Garden City lead to 54-46.
Garden City started to rebuild a double digit lead, but Hernandez found a spot along the left sideline and started to drain shots while the Buffaloes protected the lane, and the Redskins sliced the lead to six with less than three minutes to play.
The Redskins continued to trim the lead and trailed by only three with the ball in the final seconds, but a buzzer-beating three-point shot missed, and Liberal fell 74-71. Hernandez scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and had 20 in the loss. Fieser scored 22, and Moreno had 11.
