BY JIM MISUNAS
The hard-luck Great Bend Panther girls played well enough defensively and rebounded well against an aggressive Dodge City ballclub.
But the Red Demons rallied from a 4-point deficit for a hard-fought 35-30 Western Athletic Conference basketball victory with a 22-point second half.
Dodge City (8-3, 1-2 WAC) trailed 17-13 at halftime with 3 of 20 first-half shooting, 15 percent.
But Dodge City outscored the Panthers 13-3 for a 26-20 lead and held Great Bend without a field for 12 minutes.
Great Bend (2-8, 0-3) lost back-to-back last-minute WAC ballgames. The Panthers made 3 of 12 field goals after halftime.
The Panthers’ best effort of the season against a quality team came up just short.
“We did a tremendous job,” said Great Bend coach Carrie Minton. “We valued possessions and competed. We slowed the game down. I was proud of how well we rebounded the basketball.”
But 8 of 30 field goal shooting came up shy. Taryn Warren and Jenna Mauler each scored seven points. Candice Smith and Sydney Unruh each netted six points.
It came down to lack of accurate shooting despite getting quality attempts.
“There is frustration not seeing shots fall,” she said. “If we get shots to fall, we’ll get over the hump. You’ve got to take advantage of opportunities. It’s frustrating for us as coaches. It’s frustrating on the floor.”
Dodge City’s Kisa Unruh ignited the Red Demons with a trio of 3-pointers and 15 points. Five different Red Demons scored to start the second half as Camree Johnson, Lauren Gleason and Amaya Perez scored and Breanna Gutierrez contributed a 3-pointer.
Minton said the Panthers will keep working to improve.
“There was disappointment in our locker room,” she said. “But these girls want to get better.”
Dodge City 8 5 11 11 – 35
Great Bend 7 10 3 10 – 30
DC (8-3, 1-2)—Kisa Unruh 3 6-9 15, Johnson 4 2-2 10, Clark 0 0-2 0, Gleason 1 0-0 2, Gutierrez 1 0-0 3, Okoro 1 1-2 1, Perez 0 3-4 3, Foster 1 1-2 1, Totals 9-39 13-21 35.
GB (2-8, 0-3)—Warren 2 2-4 7, Mauler 1 4-6 7, Sydney Unruh 1 4-8 6, Smith 2 2-2 6, Schroeder 1 0-0 2, Harbaugh 1 0-0 2, Totals 8-30 13-20 30.
3-pointers—DC 4 (K. Unruh 3, Gutierrez 1), GB 1 (Mauler 1).
