BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
Great Bend's double threat of Carter Coombs and Parker Dicks working the point guard and shooting guard worked to perfection in the Panthers' 69-48 basketball victory over Buhler Tuesday.
Coombs enjoyed his best shooting game of the season with 16 points and four 3-pointers. He kept pushing Dicks to fire away after a zero-for-5 start. Eventually Dicks caught fire with a trio of second-half 3-pointers as they combined for four consecutive 3-pointers in the third quarter.
The Panthers' resident Superman Ian Premer found time to slam home a pair of slam dunks to deliver Christmas delight for the raucous home crowd. Premer scored 20 points and grabbed more than a dozen rebounds. His dunks provided an exclamation point for the No. 7 ranked 5A basketball team in Kansas.
Coombs was brilliant with his passing, finding teammates for open shots. He fed Premer for a basket at 25-15, found Izeah Reed, then flipped a perfect pass to Premer again. When a lob pass to Premer didn't work, all was well when Coombs delivered a 3-point bomb. Supersub Reed was instant offense with eight points off the bench and instant defense with two charges drawn.
"I know I can shoot the basketball, but I'm concerned about how I can make my teammates better and give them opportunities," Coombs said. "I'm all about helping my team. Once I hit one or two shots, I gain my confidence that night."
Buhler (1-5) hung tough behind Isaiah Heredia (12), Jalen Crable (10) and Mitchel McDaniel (10). But the Crusaders had no defense for Premer, who was dominant on the offensive boards.
Once the Panthers (6-1) switched to a trapping defense, they broke the game open with a faster pace that produced 40 second-half points.
Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh liked the way the basketball moved.
"It's a group effort, but we want to work inside/out starting with getting the basketball to the post," said Kriegh. "We've got guys who are unselfish and guys who can score, and that's a good combination. Once we got our pressure going, that got us rolling. We trapped and got in the passing lanes."
Buhler 9 6 17 16 – 48
Great Bend 11 18 20 20 – 69
BUHLER (1-5)—Heredia 4-10 1-2 12, Jared Miller 0-3 0-4 0, Crable 3-8 2-2 10, McDaniel 3-7 3-3 10, Holmberg 0-1 0-0 0, Harder 1-1 1-2 3, Neill 2-8 0-0 5, Jacob Miller 1-4 3-4 5, Nick Chance 1-1 1-2 3, Totals 15-43 11-19 48.
GREAT BEND (6-1)—Premer 8-12 4-7 20, Coombs 6-10 0-0 16, Dicks 3-11 1-2 10, Reed 4-8 1-1 9, Nicholson 1-3 0-0 3, Minton 1-1 0-0 2, Hall 0-4 0-0 0, Totals 27-57 6-10 69.
3-pointers—B 7-19 (Heredria 3-8, Crable 2-5, McDaniel 1-1, Neill 1-3, Jared Miller 0-1, Holmberg 0-1), GB 9-22 (Coombs 4-7, Dicks 3-11, Nicholson 1-2, Spray 1-2).
