BY JIM MISUNAS
LIBERAL – Liberal’s girls placed four players in double figures to overpower Great Bend 58-37 in Saturday’s Western Athletic Conference basketball game.
The Redskins featured too much height, athleticism and shooting ability for the Panthers, who pushed Liberal in a 43-38 loss in January. All-WAC Keyonna Hall (15), Hailey Contreras (14), Hallie West (12) and Shamari Lewis (10) scored in double figures for Liberal, which converted 23 of 52 field goals off solid teamwork.
Great Bend (7-12, 1-6) is seeded 12th in the 5A West. The Panthers are projected to play Andover Central (13-5) in the 5A Hutchinson (14-4) substate. The Panthers journey to Hays High next Friday.
As usual, Sadie Spray sparked the Panthers with an inspiring 15-point night with several steals and rebounds. Makenzie Premer scored eight points off 4 of 5 shooting. Emilee Hall added seven points.
Hall enjoyed one of her best games. She passed the ball superbly with a trio of assists to Premer, a pass to Spray for a 3-pointer and a nifty pass to Paige Thexton for a score. Premer returned the favor with an assist to Hall for a basket.
Great Bend showed good patience and passed the ball from point-to-point. But the Panthers committed 20 turnovers, several which were converted into easy Liberal transition baskets. Liberal showed off aggressive half-court and full-court defense that trapped the Panthers into turnovers.
The Redskins took control with a 13-5 scoring burst for a 26-15 lead. Lewis scored seven points during that stretch.
Defending WAC champion Liberal (15-2, 5-1) is tied with Dodge City (9-9, 5-1 WAC) for first place with the rematch scheduled next week at Liberal.
Great Bend 9 8 6 14 – 37
Liberal 13 16 16 13 – 58
GREAT BEND (7-12, 1-6)—Spray 5-16 4-6 15, Premer 4-5 0-1 8, Hall 2-5 3-4 7, Ellegood 0-2 0-0 0, Thexton 1-2 0-0 2, Reimer 1-2 0-0 2, Feist 1-2 0-0 3, McCauley 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 14-35 7-11 37
LIBERAL (15-2, 5-1)—Hall 6-10 2-3 15, Contreras 7-16 0-0 14, West 4-8 1-2 12, Lewis 4-8 2-6 10, Ormiston 0-1 0-0 0, Torres 0-2 2-2 2, Hatcher 2-5 0-0 4, Hallman 0-2 1-2 1, Totals 23-52 8-15 58
3-pointers—GB 2-9 (Feist 1-2, Spray 1-6, McCauley 0-1); L 4-14 (West 3-5, Hall 1-3, Ormiston 0-1, Torres 0-1, Contreras 0-4)
