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Panther girls fall hard to Liberal 60-31
Sadie Spray shoots.jpg

BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com

It was a challenging shooting night that tested the patience of Great Bend's girls and head basketball coach Cindy Beck. 

Liberal's league-leading Redskins powered past the Panthers 60-31 in Saturday's WAC rematch. Great Bend ended the game converting 1 of 20 field goals in a stretch that started in the first half. Eventually, the Panthers broke down defensively and 20-plus turnovers led to a 38-point Liberal second-half. 

"We wore down mentally and physically," said Great Bend coach Cindy Beck. "Our shots did not fall. That frustration kept carrying over to other parts of our game."

Panther leading scorers Sadie Spray (8 points) and Emilee Hall (7 points) led the offense as usual, but in a rare off-shooting night they converted 2 of 22 field goals. They combined for 10 of 18 free throws by attacking the basket when the shots didn't fall.

Great Bend (6-13, 1-6 WAC) led 18-16 when Spray hit a free throw. Melyne Fletchall fed Taryn Warren for an inside basket. Hall passed to Spray for an early 3-pointer. Spray hit Allyson Kaiser for a rebound basket. 

"I felt good about where we were at halftime," Beck said. "We were in the game at halftime."

However, the Panthers' magic quickly disappeared. Liberal ended the half on a 6-0 run that grew to 18-0 for a 32-18 lead. Bree Hornya scored seven points and Keyona added four points in the scoring run. Ashley Carrillo ended the third quarter in similar fashion with eight consecutive points for a 45-26 lead.

"Liberal is a good basketball team that knocked down some shots," Beck said. "Once you get behind, it's that much tougher to come back."

Carrillo scored 16 points, but the balanced Redskins featured Hailey Contreras and Hall added nine apiece and Hornya and Ellie Hatcher chipped in eight points for Liberal (13-5, 6-0 WAC).

Liberal 11 11 23 15 -- 60

Great Bend 10 8 8 5 -- 31

LIBERAL (13-5, 6-0)--Carrillo 6-14 3-5 16, Contreras 3-10 3-5 9, Hall 4-7 1-2 9, Hornya 3-7 0-0 8, Hallman 3-4 1-2 7, Hatcher 4-5 0-3 8, West 0-1 0-0 0, Cisneros 1-1 0-0 3, Totals 24-49 8-17 60.

GREAT BEND (6-13, 1-6)--Spray 1-7 5-8 8, Hall 1-15 5-7 7, Kaiser 2-4 2-2 6, Thexton 0-0 1-2 1, Fletchall 0-1 0-0 0, Emma Loomis 0-1 1-2 1, Warren 2-5 0-0 4, Feist 0-1 2-2 2, Premer 1-3 0-0 2, Kurth 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 7-38 16-26 31.

3-pointers--L 4-14 (Hornya 2-4, Cisneros 1-1, Carrillo 1-3, West 0-1, Contreras 0-5), GB 1-8 (Spray 1-3, Kaiser 0-1, Fletchall 0-1, E. Loomis 0-1, Feist 0-1, Kurth 0-1).