BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
KINGMAN – Great Bend's girls led pesky Conway Springs 28-27 shooting 27% when reserve DeShawnna Bryant took charge.
Bryant dominated the paint with seven consecutive points to spark a hard-fought 42-35 victory over the Cardinals in Thursday's Kingman Basketball Classic.
Cardinal Sadie Koester scored to slice the Panthers' lead to 38-35, but Bryant rescued the Panthers again with a driving inside basket for a 40-35 lead. Jillian Reimer scored to close out a 42-35 victory.
The right-handed Bryant scored twice with left-handed shots, a tactic she's worked hard to perfect.
"I've worked on my left-handed shot here-and-there," Bryant said. "My goal is to get open and establish good position in my post area. I want to attack the goal and play as strong as I can inside."
Bryant used creative, acrobatic shots with nifty footwork to convert five field goals.
"DeShawnna was a huge spark off the bench when we needed it,' said Great Bend coach Cindy Beck. "She played strong around the rim and attacked the basket, which we needed."
Panther Sadie Spray, averaging 22.5 points, scored a game high 14 points, but converted 5 of 18 shots against aggressive Cardinal defense.
The Cardinals' zone defense worked effectively. Great Bend shot 30% with 16 of 53 field goals against the Cardinals' pesky zone defense. Spray and Nicholson hit 3-pointers as the Panthers converted 2 of 14 shots from long range.
Macie Hartman scored 10 points and creative point guard Melissa Ebenkamp contributed nine points with nifty ballhandling.
Spray and Makenzie Premer each had three steals as the Panthers created 15 Cardinal turnovers.
"Paige Thexton worked and battled and her rebounding was big for our defense," Beck said. "Our defense was big."
Great Bend 11 14 10 7 – 42
CONWAY SPRINGS (1-2)—Hartman 3-10 4-5 10, Ebenkamp 2-10 3-6 9, Chitwood 2-2 4-6 6, Sadie Koester 1-1 1-2 3, Daniel 1-2 0-0 3, Morgan Koester 1-4 0-0 2, Totals 11-36 12-19 35.
GREAT BEND (2-0)—Spray 5-18 3-4 14, Bryant 5-10 3-3 13, Nicholson 1-2 0-0 3, Reimer 1-3 0-0 2, McCauley 1-6 0-0 2, Totals 16-53 8-10 42.
3-pointers—CS 3-12 (Ebenkamp 2-6, Daniel 1-2, Osner 0-4); GB 2-14 (Nicholson 1-1, Spray 1-5, Premer 0-2, McCauley 0-5).
BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
KINGMAN – Maddox Spray sparked the Great Bend Panthers with a 13-point first half. Standout Ian Premer split his 24-point outing 13/11 to power Great Bend past Conway Springs 58-43 in Thursday's Kingman Basketball Classic.
Spray was on fire during an 11-point second period off lightning-quick drives to the basket. Spray scored seven consecutive points for a 27-12 lead and converted two more baskets for a 32-15 lead.
"Maddox has days when he looks strong and plays through contact," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh. "When Maddox is locked in, he gets steals and plays defense like he did tonight."
Great Bend (1-1) knocked down 10 of 19 field goals with zero second-quarter turnovers to roar to a 35-16 halftime lead. The Panthers' solid team defense held the Cardinals to 6 of 22 shooting (33%) with seven turnovers.
The first-half was vintage teamwork offensively and defensively with 1-3-1 and man-to-man. The Panthers held 6-6 Nash Johnsen to 12 points and 5 of 15 shooting. Taylor Wykes took advantage with a solid 19-point night.
"Early on, we played team defense in our man and 1-3-1," Kriegh said. "Johnsen is a strong, solid player and we've got two guys we threw at him."
The Panthers were unable to play effectively after halftime in a 23-point half. Great Bend converted 15 of 36 shots (42%). The Cardinals' second-half half-court trap gave the Panthers trouble.
"We weren't as pleased second half," Kriegh said. "We've got to battle through adversity and play mentally tougher."
Kriegh was pleased with reserves Daxton Minton, Izeah Reed and Cooper Ohnmacht for strong contributions off the bench.
Conway Springs 5 11 10 17 – 43
Great Bend 13 22 8 15 – 58
CONWAY SPRINGS (0-3)—Wykes 8-11 3-5 19, Johnsen 5-15 1-2 12, Osner 2-6 3-7 7, Fisher 0-1 2-4 2, Rusco 1-1 0-0 2, Howard 0-9 1-2 1, Totals 43.
GREAT BEND (1-1)—Premer 10-19 4-9 24, Spray 6-15 1-1 13, Hall 3-6 2-4 8, Coombs 3-5 1-2 7, Ohnmacht 1-4 0-0 2, Minton 1-1 0-0 2, Reed 1-1 0-0 2, Nicholson 0-1 0-0 0, Dicks 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 58.
3-pointers—CS 1-11 (Johnsen 1-3, Fisher 0-1, Osner 0-1, Howard 0-6); GB 0-11 (Premer 0-1, Ohnmacht 0-1, Coombs 0-2, Dicks 0-2, Spray 0-5).
12-5—Conway Springs 55, Kingman 47; Haven 50, Sterling 30
12-7—Great Bend 42, Conway Springs 35; Wichita Sunrise 50, Haven 46
12-8—Great Bend at Kingman; Wichita Sunrise vs. Sterling
12-9—1ST—Wichita Sunrise; 3RD—Haven vs. Conway Springs; 5TH—Sterling
KINGMAN BOYS
12-5—Kingman 46, Conway Springs 42; Sterling 52, Haven 49
12-7—Great Bend 58, Conway Springs; Haven vs. Wichita Sunrise
12-8—Great Bend at Kingman; Sterling vs. Wichita Sunrise
12-9—1ST—Great Bend/Kingman winner; 3RD—Great Bend/Kingman loser; 5TH—Conway Springs
