BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
Great Bend's home crowd roared its approval when the Panther basketball team erased a 15-point deficit for a 44-44 tie with Hutchinson High Friday night.
Hutchinson played high-level basketball for a 38-23 lead.
But Cooper Ohnmacht's high-flying slam dunk keyed a 21-6 Panther scoring run for a 44-44 tie. Ohnmacht contributed six points and Jacob Hall four points during that stretch.
Hutchinson regained control by outscoring the Panthers 17-6 for a hard-fought 61-50 non-league basketball victory. The Panthers committed several costly turnovers in the fourth quarter and finished with 20 turnovers.
Hutchinson's Daniel Boone scored on a rebound basket and Larry Jeremiah converted a 3-point play and Jalen Crable hit a 3-pointer for a 52-46 lead.
Hall led the Panthers with 17 points and Ohnmacht (14) and Daxton Minton (11) scored in double figures. Great Bend made 19 of 37 field goals, 1 of 10 from 3-point range.
The Salthawks showed off excellent offensive balance with Lamar Govian (19), Boone (13), Crable (12) and Larry Jeremiah (11) scoring in double figures. Hutchinson scored directly off Panther turnovers and gained an advantage with second-chance points.
"We need more buy-in. We need to believe in our scouting report," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh. "There's things we can do better and we've got to play better basketball. We've got a lot of work to do."
Kriegh believes the Panthers need to focus on playing a more complete game with much sharper execution. Hutchinson's extra possessions made the difference.
The Panthers faced a challenge against the Salthawks' offensive balance. Hutchinson tightened its defense against Hall, who scored four second-half points after a 13-point first half.
"Hutchinson beat us on the offensive boards and got a lot of deflections and steals," Kriegh said. "Our offense was not sharing the basketball like we need to."
The Panthers travel to Salina Jan. 22 to meet Wamego (3-9) at the Salina Invitational. No. 10 West seed Great Bend (5-5) dropped to 0-2 at home with its next home game scheduled Jan. 27 against Hays Thomas More Prep.
HUTCHINSON GIRLS 62, GREAT BEND 41 — Hutchinson High's Danai Morgan got Great Bend's attention when she converted a halfcourt shot for a 31-30 halftime lead.
Morgan never saw a shot she didn't like using the dartboard theory for 8 of 26 field goal shooting. Morgan's 9 of 10 free throw accuracy and 28-point night helped offset her 31% shooting. She converted a trio of uncontested 3-pointers. Hutchinson's Ava Krone added 15 inside points.
The Panthers played their best half of the season with 9 of 24 shooting and six players scoring. Hogan's 3-pointer gave the Panthers a 30-28 lead until Morgan's miraculous shot.
The Panthers moved the basketball quickly and converted quality shots in perfect rhythm. Alyssa McCauley enjoyed a 9-point second quarter. The Panthers converted eight first-half free throws.
"The girls went out there and played basketball, and did what we needed to do," said Great Bend coach Jade Winter.
Meredith Mazouch made a third-quarter free throw for a 34-33 lead.
The Salthawks flipped a switch while the Panthers' Energizer style ran out of power. Hutchinson outscored the Panthers 27-3 for a shocking 60-37 lead.
By the time Winter called timeout, the damage was done with 14 consecutive Hutchinson points. Alex Mayers passed to Chayla Prendergast for a Panther basket.
Great Bend fired mostly blanks offensively with 3 of 26 shooting (11.5%) after halftime.
"We went from 'playing basketball,' to playing like robots," Winter said. "When we got tired, we didn't put the ball in the basket."
The Panthers had identified Morgan as a high-level offensive threat.
"We knew they ran their offense through her," Winter said. "We gave up too many second-chance points."
Great Bend (2-8) was sparked by Meredith Mazouch with 11 points and fearless offensive rebounding. McCauley scored 10 first-half points.
The Panthers play Salina South (9-3) Jan. 22 at the Salina Invitational. The Cougars routed the Panthers 47-18 Jan. 6.
Hutchinson 18 17 8 18 — 61
Great Bend 7 16 16 11 — 50
HUTCHINSON (4-6)—Govian 4-9 (0-3) 11-13 19; Boone 6-10 (1-2) 0-0 13; Crable 5-12 (2-6) 0-0 12; Jeremiah 5-8 1-3 11; Hippen 1-4 (0-2) 3-6 5; Martinez 0-0 1-2 1; Thompson 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 21-44 (3-13) 16-24 61
GREAT BEND (5-5)—Jacob Hall 5-11 (1-3) 6-8 17; Ohnmacht 7-14 (0-4) 0-0 14; Minton 4-6 (0-1) 3-6 11; Wondra 1-2 1-3 3; Alec Premer 2-4 (0-2) 1-1 5; Price 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 9-37 (1-10) 11-18 50
Hutchinson 16 15 18 13 — 62
Great Bend 16 14 6 5 — 41
HUTCHINSON (6-4)—Morgan 8-26 (3-7) 9-10 28; Ava Krone 7-10 (0-1) 1-1 15; Keeton 3-7 (2-3) 0-0 8; Tecklenburg 0-1 0-0 0; Craft 1-6 2-2 4; Jackson 0-1 2-4 2; Alvarez 2-9 (1-5) 0-0 5; Ontjes (0-2) 0-0 0; Totals 21-62 (6-18) 14-17 62
GREAT BEND (2-8)—Meredith Mazouch 3-14 (1-4) 4-5 11; McCauley 3-8 (2-5) 2-4 10; Hogan 1-5 3-4 6; Prendergast 2-5 0-1 4; Alex Mayers 2-11 (0-5) 2-2 6; Stevie Mayers 1-5 1-2 3; Ringo 0-2 1-2 1; Totals 12-50 (4-16) 13-20 41
