BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com

Buhler outplayed Great Bend’s girls for three quarters building a 42-34 lead in Tuesday's non-league basketball game.

But Great Bend cranked up the defensive intensity as sparkplug Emilee Hall led the Panthers to their best basketball of the season. Hall performed with a fearless confidence down the stretch.

The Panthers forced Buhler into 11 turnovers and outscored the Crusaders 17-4 in the final five minutes for a 51-46 comeback victory before a raucous home crowd.

Paige Thexton hit a 15-foot banked shot to swing the Panthers' momentum. Hall scored four points. After Buhler's Emmie Stallman scored for a 44-40 lead, Hall scored and Hall's steal led to Thexton's rebound basket for a 44-44 tie.

Following a Buhler turnover on a 3-on-1 fast break, Hall fed Spray a pass for a go-ahead 3-pointer and a 47-44 lead. Spray converted four final free throws to secure the hard-fought victory. 

Hall credits coach Cindy Beck for the victory.

"It took a lot from coach Beck. It shows how well we work as a team to dig out of a hole," Hall said. "Everyone chipped in and stepped up at different times. It's nice to see it all come together in a game. That defense is fun when the other team is shut down."

Beck said the Panthers found a way to overcome adversity with full-court pressure defense.

"We weren't going to fold," she said. "That was huge seeing our girls fight back. We forced turnovers and bad passes to gain extra possessions. We finally found it at the offensive end."

Great Bend (5-2) was paced by All-WAC standout Spray with 19 points and five steals. Hall scored 14 points and Paige Thexton enjoyed her best game of the season with 12 points.

"Our focus is always seeing different players step up," Beck said. "Paige made some huge buckets. Emilee's overall play was huge." 

Buhler point guard Ella Voss played a brilliant floor game directing the Crusaders' offense. Gracie Oard scored 16 points with a pair of 3-pointers. Stallman added 10 points.

Buhler converted three early shots for a 6-6 tie. Great Bend’s Alyssa McCauley made a 3-pointer and Makenzie Premer passed to Hall and Hall dished to Spray for a 13-6 lead. But the Crusaders answered with 3-pointers by Gracie Oard and Claudia Taylor for a 16-15 lead. Buhler led 23-22 at halftime thanks to 5-of-5 free throw shooting. 

Buhler 11 12 15 8 – 46

Great Bend 15 7 11 18 –  51

BUHLER (2-4)— Oard 7-12 0-0 16, Stallman 3-7 4-4 10, Krafels 1-6 4-4 6, Brooks 2-3 1-1 5,  Taylor 1-4 0-0 3, Voss 2-4 0-2 4, Baxter 0-3 0-0 0, Miller 1-3 0-0 2, Siemens 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 17-46 9-11 46.

GREAT BEND (5-2)—Spray 6-14 6-12 19, Hall 5-15 4-6 14, Thexton 6-8 0-0 12, McCauley 1-4 1-2 4, Reimer 0-1 0-0 0, Bryant 0-1 0-0 0, Premer 0-3 0-0 0, Ringo 1-4 0-0 2, Totals 19-54 10-18 51.

3-pointers—B 3-11 (Oard 2-3, Taylor 1-3, Voss 0-1, Krafels 0-2, Siemens 0-2), GB 2-11 (McCauley 1-4, Spray 1-6, Ringo 0-1).