Panther girls drop WAC opener
BY JIM MISUNAS
The Great Bend girls played like it was their first basketball game of the year.
While it was true for 2019, the Panthers had played seven games prior to Friday’s Western Athletic Conference 47-29 loss to Garden City.
The offensive-challenged Panthers shot 16 percent on 8 of 49 field goals and converted 3 of 23 3-pointers. Great Bend committed 25 turnovers and shot 14 percent after halftime on 3 of 22 field goals.
At times, the Panthers tried too hard to make shots rather than relax and shoot the basketball. Great Bend (1-7, 0-1 WAC) returns home Tuesday against Hays High.
“The girls were frustrated,” said Great Bend Carrie Minton, who maintained her poise. “We had a lot of open looks. We got frustrated and it tilted over to over parts of our game.”
One of the few bright spots was Panther Sydney Unruh, who hustled her heart out with ballhandling and defense. Unruh dug deep with several aggressive plays that led to eight points.
She broke a 7-minute scoring drought with a hustle play that delivered a basket for a 24-15 score. Later, Halle Latham passed to Unruh for a 3-pointer and Unruh converted a wild shot for back-to-back baskets for a 30-20 score.
“Sydney is very competitive and gave it everything she had,” Minton said. “She tried everything she could to help her team win.”
Garden City’s Keyhana Turner scored 12 points and Taryn Tabor added 11 points. Garden City (6-1, 1-0 WAC) converted 18 of 24 free throws by effectively attacking the basket against the shorter Panthers.
Minton wasn’t pleased with the unforced turnovers and lack of focus handling the basketball.
“We had too many unforced turnovers that hurt us,” Minton said.
The Buffaloes set an aggressive tone by attacking the basket and pressuring the Panthers into 15 first-half turnovers. The Panthers were pressured into mistakes and committed violations on their own.
The Buffaloes led 27-15 at halftime after an 11-0 scoring run led to an 13-2 lead. The Buffaloes converted 10 free throws by working inside.
The Panthers made 5 of 27 field goals for 18.5 percent.
GC 15 12 11 9 – 47
GB 7 6 10 6 – 29
GC (6-1, 1-0)— Tabor 3-8 4-7 11, Turner 3-3 6-7 11, Calzonetti 1-8 5-6 7, Salazar 3-9 0-0 8, Rodriguez 2-8 1-2 5, Beasley 1-5 2-2 4, Simmons 0-1 0-0 0, Marquez 0-1 0-0 0, Calahan 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 13-44 18-24 47
GB (1-7, 0-1)— Sydney Unruh 3-11 1-4 8, Smith 1-3 4-4 6, Kaylee Unruh 1-3 2-2 5, Latham 2-7 0-2 4, Mauler 1-12 0-0 3, Harbaugh 0-3 3-4 3, Keller 0-1 0-2 0, Wasinger 0-3 0-0 0,Schroeder 0-4 0-0 0, Herter 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 8-49 10-20 29
3-pointers—GC 3-16 (Salazar 2-7, Tabor 1-2, Rodriguez 0-1, Calahan 0-1, Beasley 0-2, Calzonetti 0-2), GB 3-23 (K. Unruh 1-2, S. Unruh 1-5, Mauler 1-8, Keller 0-1, Herter 0-1, Latham 0-2, Schroeder 0-4)
