Boys basketball: Fort Davis falls short against Garden City

MONAHANS The Fort Davis boys basketball team was hoping to control the tempo Tuesday night in its Class 1A Division II regional quarterfinal.

Fort Davis did — but only for the first 11 minutes.

After that, it was all downhill as the Garden City defense and a steady dose of Wade Jansa

sent the Bearkats to the Region II tournament for a second consecutive season.

Garden City (22-8) eliminated Fort Davis 49-34 at Jerry Larned Sports Complex at Monahans High School.

“A lot of teams say things before games, but it is different when you have to do it,” Garden City coach Koby Abney said. “We just wanted to play good defense. We feel we can force teams into taking a lot of time to get a shot off.”

Fort Davis (24-7) jumped out to an 18-6 lead with 4:33 left in the first half by forcing turnovers and getting out on the fast break.

Garden City then stepped up its defense and slowed down the game. The Bearkats closed the half on a 13-3 run to pull within 21-19.

“We just settled down and played better defense and stopped turning the ball over,” Jansa said. “They are a good 3-point shooting team, and our guards did a good job of containing them.”

Garden City will play May at 4 p.m. Friday in a Region II-1A semifinal at Fort Worth’s Wilkerson Grines Activity Center.

Jansa scored seven points in the third quarter and 10 in the fourth to help Garden City outscore Fort Davis 30-13 in the second half.

“My teammates were passing me the ball and my shots were falling,” the senior said.

Jansa finished with 26 points — coming one point shy of a season high — and nine rebounds. He scored 27 points in a game against New Home earlier this season.

Fort Davis made four field goals in the second half, and two those came in the final minute of play.

“I’ve got to commend them on their defense,” Fort Davis coach Jarime Baethge said. “They controlled the boards, and we knew that would be a concern.”

While Fort Davis was eliminated, Baethge is hoping the experience of advancing to the regional quarterfinals will pay off.

“We’ve got an opportunity to carry on probably the most cohesive unit returning next year,” Baethge said.

Joe Ramos scored 10 points for Fort Davis, while Adrian Hernandez had eight points and 13 rebounds. Marcus Hartnett finished with seven points for the Indians.