BY JIM MISUNAS
TECUMSEH – Great Bend’s basketball fate came down to free throws.
Shawnee Mission East converted 10 consecutive free throws while the Panther girls missed three in a row to lose 44-40 in Friday’s hard-fought consolation game at the Thunderbird Classic.
Emma Eberhart converted two free throws for a 39-37 lead after Panthers Sydney Unruh and Jenna Mauler missed free throw attempts for the lead. Sydney Unruh’s 3-pointer sliced the lead to 41-40, but Yowell converted three free throws.
Eberhart and Jordan Yowell combined for 16 free throws as the 6A Lancers outscored the Panthers 17-10 from the line.
“Had we knocked down a few free throws, it’s a different game,” said Great Bend coach Carrie Minton. “But you don’t get a do-over.”
Sydney Unruh led the Panthers (1-11) with a career high 17 points. Candice Smith scored nine points and Alyssa Herter added eight points. The Panthers played their finest basketball game of the season despite their typical height disadvantage.
The Lancers (8-4) led 15-8 when Sydney Unruh hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Halle Latham hit a trey for a 17-15 lead.
The tight game featured six lead changes and three ties, 37-37 for the final time.
Yowell led the Lancers with 19 points and Eberhart and Kathleen Stanley added eight points apiece. The Panthers executed an effective triangle-and-two defense against the Lancers’ 6-3 Sarah Bingham, who blocked a half-dozen shots.
“We threw a different defense, a triangle-and-two to take away their outside shooting,” Minton said. “The girls did a tremendous job executing that.”
The Panthers worked effectively to shoot 16 free throws and knocked down six 3-pointers. Bingham shut down the inside game.
“Our girls did some good things,” Minton said. “We saw excitement on the bench that creates some extra energy. We worked hard to get open looks underneath. The last component is getting the ball into the hoop.”
Great Bend 8 12 5 15 – 40
SM East 8 12 11 13 – 44
GREAT BEND (1-11)—Sydney Unruh 4-13 5-8 17, Smith 3-10 2-2 9, Herter 3-7 2-3 8, Latham 1-2 0-0 3, Mauler 1-8 0-1 2, Schroeder 0-2 1-2 1, Harbaugh 0-1 0-0 0, Kaylee Unruh 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 12-46 10-16 40
SM EAST (8-4)—Yowell 4 8-12 19, Eberhart 0 8-10 8, Stanley 3 0-0 8, Fort 2 0-0 4, Bingham 1 1-2 3, Gossick 1 0-0 2, Totals 11 17-24 44
3-pointers—GB 6-16 (S. Unruh 4, Latham 1, Smith 1), SE 5 (Yowell 3, Stanley 2)
