BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
After two games without Ian Premer, it's painstaking to see how much the Great Bend Panthers miss their standout all-state power basketball player.
Unbeaten Pratt handed the Panthers (4-3) their third consecutive loss 48-41 to spoil Great Bend's home basketball opener Friday. The Panthers have lost to a trio of unbeaten state powers — No. 1 2A Sterling (7-0), unranked 5A Emporia (7-0) and No. 4 4A Pratt (6-0).
If you believe Premer is worth his 23-point average, you'd be correct.
When Premer (23 ppg) has competed in five games before being sidelined with an injury, the Panthers have averaged 69 ppg. Minus Premer's 23 point average, Great Bend has averaged 46 points, 23 below its season average in the two games he's missed.
For the second consecutive game, the Panthers missed Premer's presence offensively and defensively.
Pratt's 6-foot-6 Arley Morrell enjoyed a dominating performance with 26 points on 11 of 19 shooting in the paint. Caleb Strong added 10 points. Pratt's trio scored 45 of the Greenbacks' 48 points.
Great Bend's Jacob Hall delivered a top-notch performance for the second consecutive game with 21 points with crafty and patient shots inside. But the Panthers two weaknesses showed up as they misfired with 1 of 11 perimeter shooting (9%) on 3-pointers and 2 of 9 on free throws (22%).
"Morrell is a tough player," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh. "There's a reason why he gets his offensive boards. Jacob Hall competes. I'll take him every day."
Last year, Premer dominated the Morrell matchup with 29 points, 14 rebounds and five steals in a 59-46 Panther victory. Premer blocked a shot by Morrell, who tumbled to the floor in a 5-of-19 shooting performance.
The Panthers executed poorly to finish the first three quarters. Pratt outscored the Panthers 19-3 by closing out the first three quarters with 5-1, 6-2 and 8-0 scoring edges to maintain control.
After a 26-25 halftime lead, the Panthers shot 2 of 10 and were outscored 15-4 to trail 40-30. Morrell scored eight points.
Great Bend never challenged in the fourth quarter with four missed free throws and four turnovers. Pratt scored six free throws to overcome 1 of 6 shooting and 10 missed free throws. Pratt's scrappy defense held the Panthers to 41% (18 of 44).
Kriegh believes in his team's potential after losing to a trio of unbeaten teams. He liked the effort the Panthers displayed.
"We played tough, but it hurts to lose," Kriegh said. "It's still encouraging because we were right there. I still love these guys. These are teams which we can beat."
Pratt 11 14 15 18 — 48
Great Bend 13 13 4 11 — 41
PRATT (6-0)—Morrell 11-19 4-6 26; Strong 3-10 (1-3) 3-6 10; Titus 4-9 (1-3) 0-0 9; Barker 1-7 0-0 2; Pore 0-0 0-1 0; Schmidt (0-1) 0-0 0; Thibault (0-1) 0-2 0; Liggett 0-0 1-2 1; Lara 0-3 (0-1) 0-0 0; Totals 19-51 (2-9) 8-17 48
GREAT BEND (4-3)—Jacob Hall 8-18 (1-6) 2-5 21; Ohnmacht 3-9 (0-1) 0-0 6; Minton 3-6 (0-1) 0-2 6; Stroup 2-4 0-2 4; Wondra 1-2 0-0 2; Alec Premer 0-4 (0-3) 0-0 0; Fanshier 1-1 0-0 2; Totals 18-44 (1-11) 2-9 41
