DODGE CITY GIRLS 47, PANTHERS 41 — Dodge City likely ended Great Bend's hopes of playing postseason basketball with a hard-fought 47-41 Western Athletic Conference basketball victory Tuesday.
No. 16 seed Topeka West (5-13) earned a fifth win 52-16 Tuesday against Lansing. The No. 17 seeded Panthers (3-15, 0-4 WAC) will miss 5A postseason unless they deliver three biblical-style upsets after losing to Garden City 67-37, Liberal 74-40 and Hays 61-22 in earlier meetings.
Great Bend never recovered after leaving Dodge City's Emily Gutierrez unguarded for a trio of first-quarter 3-pointers. The Panthers outworked and outhustled the Red Demons 37-31 after trailing 16-4.
The Mazouch sisters played with passion and energy. Meredith Mazouch scored 13 points along with her fearless all-around play. Katherine Mazouch chipped in 11 points. The Panthers missed a golden opportunity with 6 of 17 free throw shooting.
The Panthers closed within 41-37 when Red Demons Emma Bell and Addisyn Taylor scored game-clinching baskets for a 45-37 lead.
"We played too hard to lose that ballgame, but some things showed up that cost us," said Great Bend coach Jade Winter. "We played aggressive and pushed the ball up the court."
Great Bend kicked up their defensive intensity and moved the basketball smoothly after continuing to struggle in the opening quarter. Defensive stopper Baze Hogan shut out Gutierrez after halftime.
"Baze did a fantastic job when he needed to shut down No. 4 (Gutierrez)," Winter said. "It was nice to see the Mazouchs play so well tonight. We need players stepping up like that."
Dodge City 16 10 12 9 — 47
Great Bend 4 16 13 8 — 41
DODGE CITY (8-10, 1-3)—Bell 3-13 5-10 11; Gutierrez 4-15 (3-6) 0-0 11; Taylor 3-10 (1-3) 2-3 9; Mellinger 3-5 (0-1) 1-2 7; Culwell 23 0-0 4 Smith 12 2-2 4; Bogner 0-1 1-2 1; Totals 16-49 (4-11) 11-19 47
GREAT BEND (3-15, 0-4)—Meredith Mazouch 4-9 (1-3) 4-4 13; Katherine Mazouch 4-7 (1-3) 2-3 11; Chayla Prendergast 4-7 0-4 8; Hogan 1-6 (0-1) 2; Alex Mayers 1-9 (1-3) 0-0 3; Ringo 2-8 (0-1) 0-0 4; McCauley 0-6 (0-2) 0-6 0; Totals 16-52 (3-13) 6-17 41
