Talented Indians roll past Panthers
BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
HAYS – For a brief spell, the Great Bend’s girls basketball team proved they’ll eventually be competitive.
The Panthers strung together a flawless 16-2 streak that gives coach Carrie Minton hope of better times ahead.
But the Hays Indians feature too much depth, height and experience for the Panthers to handle. The Indians led 25-7 when the Panthers staged an amazing scoring run to climb within 27-23.
Hays High dominated the Panthers 52-21 to overpower Great Bend 79-44 in Thursday’s Hays City Shootout.
The Panthers (0-1) will be a heavy underdog when they play at 7 p.m. Friday against defending 5A state champion St. Thomas Aquinas. Great Bend is riding a 14-game losing streak dating back to last season.
Jaclynn Schroeder ignited the Panthers’ second-quarter rally with nine points, including a 3-pointer. Sydney Unruh converted a 3-pointer and sparked several scrappy defensive minutes. The Panthers executed superbly after forcing several turnovers.
“There are some positives,” Minton said. “Our girls played extremely hard the whole game. I was proud of how hard the girls played for 32 minutes.”
Indian Savannah Schneider scored 21 points and converted 8-of-12 field goals. Brooke Denning added 16 points. Hays converted seven 3-pointers to outscore the Panthers 21-6 from long range.
The Indians’ trapping fullcourt defense forced seven consecutive Panther turnovers to start the game. Hays led 25-9 after one quarter while converting 11 turnovers into easy scores.
The Panthers didn’t attack the pressure and Hays High beat the Panthers to the basketball.
“There are a lot of mistakes, but there are things we can learn from,” Minton said. “We didn’t take care of the ball and didn’t box out. Those are things we can work on.”
Schroeder paced the Panthers with 13 points and Sydney Unruh added eight points. Candice Smith chipped in seven points. The Panthers had 10 players contribute.
“It’s a growing process,” Minton said. “We’ll work the puzzle pieces.”
The Indians (1-0) play 6A state qualifier Manhattan at 5:15 p.m. Friday. The Indians return 97 percent of their scoring from last year’s 13-8 team.
Great Bend 9 18 11 6 – 44
Hays High 25 12 21 21 – 79
GREAT BEND (0-1)—Jaclynn Schroeder 5-8 2-3 13; Sydney Unruh 2-8 3-6 8; Candice Smith 3-5 1-4 7; Jenna Mauler 3-8 0-0 6; Kaylee Unruh 1-2 0-0 2; Taryn Warren 1-5 0-1 2; Ashlyn Harbaugh 1-1 0-0 2; Halle Latham 1-6 0-0 2; Alyssa Keller 0-2 0-0 0; Totals 17-40 8-18 44
HAYS HIGH (1-0)—Schneider 8-12 3-5 21; Denning 5-10 4-4 16; Hutchison 4-9 1-2 9; Nunnery 3-11 1-1 8; Schaffer 2-4 2-2 7; Flax 0-1 5-8 5; Dale 1-7 0-2 2; Robben 3-5 0-0 6; Lummus 1-2 0-2 3; Ruder 0-1 0-0 0; Green 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 28-69 16-26 79
3-point goals—GB 2-9 (Schroeder 1-2, S. Unruh 1-2, Keller 0-1, Latham 0-1, Mauler 0-3), HH 7-23 (Schneider 2-2, Denning 2-5, Schaffer 1-1, Lummus 1-2, Nunnery 1-7, Ruder 0-1, Robben 0-2, Hutchison 0-3)
