ADD SCORE
BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
HAYS – After two challenging days, the Great Bend Panthers enjoyed morning basketball to their delight at Saturday’s Hays Shootout.
The Great Bend boys edged past Wichita Life Prep 75-62 to place seventh at the Hays Shootout. Great Bend’s girls broke a 20-game losing streak with a dominating 49-16 victory over Wichita Life Prep to place seventh at the Hays Shootout.
GREAT BEND BOYS 75, LIFE PREP 62 – Peyton Duvall sparked the Panthers to a 40-32 halftime lead with 14 points. Sparkplug point guard Alex Schremmer finished off Life Prep with 25 points, 15 after halftime.
Michael Johnson rallied the Fire within 52-48 with seven consecutive points in the fourth quarter. But the Panthers responded and Dalton Miller and Schremmer combined for 15 points for a 70-50 lead.
The Fire knocked down nine 3-pointers and the Panthers responded with six 3-pointers and solid inside scoring. Duvall scored 14 points, Miller 11 and Ray Kuhlman added nine points.
Great Bend coach Tim Brooks accomplished what he wanted by seeing the Panthers play better each game. The Panthers dominated the boards 43-12, which translated to 17 extra shots on offense.
“Offensively, we were pretty good,” Brooks said. “We created good things with our pace. We got some good quality shots. When we played good, we rebounded very well in those games.”
The Panthers’ only negative was the lack of perimeter defense at times.
“They shot the ball extremely well,” Brooks said. “It’s a little worrisome we can’t contest a little bit. We need to play better defense if we want to contend in the Western Athletic Conference.”
The Panthers (1-2) journey to Junction City (1-0) Tuesday for a non-league test. Manhattan defeated Olathe West 65-58 for the championship.
GREAT BEND GIRLS 49, WICHITA LIFE PREP 16 – Great Bend’s girls (1-2) snapped a 20-game losing streak and a stretch of 35 losses in the past 36 games over the past three seasons.
The Panthers accomplished the feat with aggressive defense that held the Fire without a field goal in three of four quarters. The Fire is averaging 12 points through three games.
“We challenged them and held them to two free throws in the second half,” said Great Bend coach Carrie Minton. “We maintained our defensive intensity the second half. Our girls work hard.”
Sydney Unruh, averaging 10 points, scored a season high 14 points with a pair of 3-pointers. Candice Smith and Taryn Warren each scored six points. The Panthers’ Unruh and Jaclynn Schroeder each scored five points for a 14-0 lead.
After the Fire matched the Panthers 13-13 in the second quarter, Great Bend held Wichita Life Prep to no field goals after halftime.
“We played extremely hard and executed very well at the start,” Minton said. “We need to execute. We’ll be challenged later on in the season. Defensively, we need help defense when we face post players.”
Defending 5A state champion St. Thomas Aquinas defeated Olathe West 56-23 for the girls championship.
HAYS SHOOTOUT BOYS
SATURDAY
1ST— Manhattan 65, Olathe West 58; 3RD—Free State 46, Hays High 31; 5TH—Hays-TMP 65, Millwood, Okla. 62; 7TH—Great Bend 75, Wichita Life 62
FRIDAY SEMIFINALS—Olathe West 57, Hays High 43; Manhattan 51, Free State 49
LOSERS BRACKET—Hays-TMP 80, Wichita Life 65; Millwood, Okla. 67, Great Bend 59
Hays High 92, Wichita Life 42; Olathe West 72, Hays-TMP 61
Lawrence Free State 59, Millwood, Okla. 35; Manhattan 71, Great Bend 47
GREAT BEND 75, LIFE PREP 62
Life Prep 13 19 13 17 – 62
Great Bend 17 23 12 23 – 75
LIFE PREP (0-3)—McPhee 7 0-0 18; Johnson 4 3-3 14; Russell 5 1-1 12; McDonald 4 0-1 9; Simms 2-4 5-7 9; Totals 24 5-7 62.
GREAT BEND (1-2)—Schremmer 11 0-0 25; Duvall 6 0-0 14; Miller 4 3-3 11; Kuhlman 3 3-4 9; Olivas 2 0-0 4; Sam Ryan 1 2-5 4; Streck 1 0-0 3; Koelsch 0 1-2 1; Totals 30 9-14 75.
3-pointers—LP 9 (McPhee 4, Johnson 3, McDonald 1, Russell 1), GB 6 (Schremmer 3, Duvall 2, Streck 1).
HAYS SHOOTOUT GIRLS
SATURDAY
1ST—St. Thomas Aquinas 56, Olathe West 23; 3RD—Manhattan 48, Hays High 41; 5TH—Millwood, Okla. 67, Hays TMP 28; 7TH—Great Bend 49, Wichita Life 16
FRIDAY SEMIFINALS—Olathe West 60, Hays High 39; St. Thomas Aquinas 51, Manhattan 26
LOSERS BRACKET—Hays-TMP 52, Wichita Life 12; Millwood, Okla. 76, Great Bend 20
THURSDAY FIRST ROUND—Hays High 59, Wichita Life 7; Olathe West 58, Hays-TMP 44; St. Thomas Aquinas 59, Millwood, Okla. 40; Manhattan 51, Great Bend 41
GREAT BEND 49, LIFE PREP 16
Life Prep 1 13 1 1 – 16
Great Bend 17 13 10 9 – 49
LIFE PREP (0-3)—Tomaszuk 2 5-10 9; Lepuowsua 2 2-4 7; Totals 4 7-14 16.
GREAT BEND (1-2)—Sydney Unruh 5 2-4 14; Warren 2 2-2 6; Smith 3 0-0 6; Clark 2 0-2 5; Latham 2 1-2 5; Schroeder 2 0-0 5; Herter 1 2-2 4; Mauler 1 0-0 3; Tinkler 0 1-2 1; Totals 18-55 8-14 49.
