BY JIM MISUNAS
HUTCHINSON – Great Bend’s Carter Coombs was red hot from the start. It took defensive wizard Braylon Council one half to dominate his matchup at noisy Prairie Hills Middle School.
Coombs scored a Panther career high 24 points and Council shut down Buhler standout Grant Ricker to spark a 66-53 non-league basketball victory over pesky Buhler Tuesday.
Buhler pushed the Panthers (9-6) into the fourth quarter, which was a perfect tune-up for a Western Athletic Conference showdown against leader Garden City.
Coombs converted 6 of 10 3-pointers and scored 14 first-half points. Coombs finished 8 of 13 from the field. Tyler Stuhlsatz as usual did all the hard work inside with 14 points. Ian Premer chipped in 10 points and Jacob Hall made every shot for eight points.
“We see Carter shoot like that every day in practice. He got into a rhythm and took advantage of having a good shooting night," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh. "We did a better job sharing the basketball that second half. It’s good to see our guys play that well to get a hard-fought victory. Working for this victory will do us more good heading into Friday."
Buhler pressured the Panthers into several turnovers to stay within 32-30 at halftime. Ricker scored 16 first-half points when Council was sidelined with two fouls.
Ricker led Buhler with 23 points and Matthew Eddy added 10 points.
“Ricker got away from us. Braylon is our best on-ball defender,” said Kriegh. “He’s super quick and he’s got good quick hands. Braylon did a terrific defensive job after halftime.”
Great Bend 13 19 15 19 – 66
Buhler 12 18 10 13 – 53
GREAT BEND (9-6)— Coombs 8-13 2-2 24, Stuhlsatz 7-10 0-0 14, Premer 4-14 2-3 10, Hall 2-2 4-4 8, Spray 1-7 0-1 2, Council 1-3 0-0 3, Dicks 1-2 0-0 3, Totals 24-51 10-12 66
BUHLER (4-11)— Ricker 5-14 10-13 23, Parker 2-5 0-0 4, Willard-Trass 2-8 0-0 4, Stambaugh 1-3 0-0 2, Marks 0-1 0-0 0, Swanson-Roberts 1-7 2-2 4, Neill 1-8 4-4 6, Eddy 4-8 2-4 10, Totals 16-54 18-23 53
3-pointers—GB 8-18 (Coombs 6-10, Council 1-2, Dicks 1-2, Spray 0-1, Premer 0-3); B 3-17 (Ricker 3-7, Stambaugh 0-1, Eddy 0-1, Parker 0-2, Neill 0-3, Roberts-Swanson 0-3). Rebounds—GB 33 (Premer 9); B 26 (Eddy 9). Assists—GB 12 (Council 4, Premer 4); B 9 (Swanson-Roberts 3). Steals—GB 6 (Spray 4); B 6 (Swanson-Roberts 4)
