No. 1 6A Firebirds race past Panthers
BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
HAYS – The Lawrence Free State Firebirds will likely be the best basketball team the Great Bend Panthers will play.
The No. 1 ranked 6A Firebirds overwhelmed the Panthers 62-35 in Thursday’s Gerald Mitchell Hays Basketball Shootout. Free State qualified for the 6A semifinals last year before losing 42-37 to state runner-up Campus.
The Panthers (0-1) play Hugoton (0-1) at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Hays Middle School.
The Firebirds used their first-class speed and athleticism to gain additional possessions by converting 25 Panther turnovers into numerous transition baskets. Jailen Thompson led the way with 15 points, 11 in the first half. Isaac Gonzalez hit a trio of 3-pointers for nine points.
“Hopefully, playing a great basketball team will make us better. They have tremendous athletes that get in the gaps,” said Great Bend coach Kyle Kreigh. “They forced some turnovers. We held the basketball too much. We need to have better ball movement. We’ll have better success when we share the basketball.”
Free State started off shooting 1 of 10 from the field. But the Firebirds broke away with a 19-1 scoring burst for a 25-7 lead. Gonzalez drilled three consecutive 3-pointers during that game-defining stretch.
By halftime, the Firebirds led 34-14 and they cruised home during the second half.
Great Bend’s Stefan Spray hung tough with a game-high 11 points. Chanute transfer Carter Coombs contributed nine points and a nifty assist to Stefan Spray. Coombs also dished an assist to Stefan Spray for a 3-pointer. Stefan Spray and Braylon Council also passed off for assists.
“We did some good things and proved we could play with them a little,” Kreigh said. “Stefan Spray looked good out there banging with the No. 1 team in 6A. I told the guys at halftime, this basketball game was like a 12-round boxing match. You can’t give up or you’ll be knocked out. It was encouraging to see our guys didn’t give up. We tried to win every four minutes stretch. That first four minutes we did that.”
Great Bend 7 7 8 – 35
Free State 18 16 17 – 62
GREAT BEND (0-1)— Stefan Spray 4-9 2-4 11, Coombs 3-7 1-4 9, Joseph Moeder 2-3 0-0 4, Council 1-2 1-2 3, Maddox Spray 1-2 0-0 3, Koelsch 1-6 1-3 2, Mathew Moeder 0-1 2-2 2, Hernandez 0-1 0-0 0, Brack 0-2 0-2 0, Totals 12-33 7-17 35
FREE STATE (1-0)— Thompson 6-8 2-3 15, Gonzalez 3-5 0-0 9, Jackson 4-7 0-1 8, Epelle 4-6 0-2 8, Edwards 3-6 0-0 7, Brown 2-11 2-3 7,
Cleveland 2-5 1-3 5, Downing 1-3 0-0 3, Dineen 0-0 0-2 0, Simon 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 25-52 6-13 62
3-pointers—GB 4-9 (Coombs 2-4, M. Spray 1-1, S. Spray 1-3, Koelsch 0-1), FS 7-20 (Gonzalez 3-4, Downing 1-2, Thompson 1-3, Edwards 1-3, Brown 1-6, Simon 0-1, Jackson 0-1). Rebounds—GB 25, FS 24. TO—GB 25, FS 11.
GERALD MITCHELL HAYS SHOOTOUT
THURSDAY—Lawrence Free State 62, Great Bend 35; Olathe West 60, Hugoton 37; Hays High 69, Hays-TMP 36
FRIDAY—Free State 75, Hays-TMP 23; Hugoton 62, Great Bend 57; Hays High 63, Olathe West 44
SATURDAY—1ST—Hays High vs. Free State, 6 p.m.; 3RD—Olathe West vs. Hugoton, 2:30; 5TH—Great Bend vs. Hays-TMP, 12:45
