BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
HAYS — The Great Bend Panthers hope the third time is the charm.
No. 8 seed Hays High earned homecourt advantage with a hard-fought 46-42 Western Athletic Conference basketball victory over Great Bend Friday. The Panthers (11-9. 5-3) missed a chance for a home playoff game after beating the Indians 64-47 earlier this season.
Hays High (12-8, 5-3 WAC) and Great Bend will clash for third time Wednesday at Hays in the Wichita Kapaun-Mt. Carmel 5A basketball substate.
The rivalry was a gritty battle of survival featuring hard fouls, aggressive defense and quality teamwork.
Despite shooting 10% the first quarter and 20% through three quarters (5 of 25), the Panthers stayed within range with 17 of 23 free throw accuracy. The Panthers were outscored 18-8 after guard Braylon Council departed on a second quarter block/charge call. Council returned, but was clearly shaken by the collision with 250-pound Dawson Ruder.
After trailing 36-26, the Panthers rallied when Tyler Stuhlsatz scored four points and Ian Premer and Jacob Hall made baskets as the Panthers converted 4-of-4 shots to start the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run.
The Panthers climbed within 38-36, 40-38, 42-40 and 44-42, but Hays made six fourth-quarter free throws for the victory.
The Panthers missed two chances to tie. After Hall forced a tie ball with Edwin Muller, Hall missed a contested inside shot. Down 45-42, Maddox Spray missed a tying 3-pointer off a nicely designed pick at the top of the key.
"When we played three 'bigs' we battled back," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh. "Jacob Hall gave us good minutes. We got post feeds and Tyler Stuhlsatz attacked from the perimeter. We did a good job getting stops. We played our best when we pushed the ball and let our athletes attack."
Premer led the Panthers with 10 points, but he missed four free throws. Spray added eight points and Stuhlsatz scored six of his eight points in the fourth quarter.
Hays' Jack Weimer scored 11 points, but made 4 of 15 field goals against excellent Panther defense provided by Council. Kyreece Groen added 11 points. Chason VanDerWege grabbed 14 rebounds to dominate the boards.
"Hays showed more determination and desire," said Kriegh. " They got loose balls."
The teams will shoot better from the perimeter next week. Hays made 1 of 10 3-pointers and the Panthers were 2 of 11.
The Hays-Great Bend winner is bracketed to play Wichita Kapaun-Mt. Carmel (19-1) in the March 3 championship game.
Great Bend 8 10 10 16 — 42
Hays High 6 18 12 10 — 46
GREAT BEND (11-9, 5-3)—Premer 4-13 2-6 10, Spray 1-4 6-6 9, Stuhlsatz 2-6 4-4 8, Hall 3-6 0-1 7, Scheuerman 1-1 3-4 6, Council 0-1 2-2 2, Coombs 0-5 0-0 0, Dicks 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 11-37 17-23 42
HAYS HIGH (12-8, 5-3)—Weimer 4-15 2-4 11, Groen 5-7 1-2 11, VanDerWege 3-8 1-1 7, Ruder 3-6 0-1 6, Fox 1-3 3-4 5, Archie 2-4 0-0 4, Muller 1-45 0-0 2, Totals 19-48 7-12 46
3-pointers—GB 2-11 (Hall 1-1, Scheuerman 1-1, Dicks 0-1, Council 0-1, Stuhlsatz 0-1, Coombs 0-2, Premer 0-4); H 1-10 (Weimer 1-6, Groen 0-1, Muller 0-3)
5A WEST BOYS
1—Wichita Kapaun Mt. Carmel 19-1 vs. 16 Valley Center 4-16; 8 Hays High 12-8 vs. 9 Great Bend 11-9
2—Hutchinson High 19-1 vs. 15 Salina Central 5-15; 7 Topeka West 13-7 vs. 10 Arkansas City 10-10
3—Andover High 18-2 vs. 14 Goddard 8-12; 6 Emporia 15-5 vs. 11 Wichita Carroll 10-10
4—Maize South 17-3 vs. 13 Goddard Eisenhower 10-10; 5 Andover Central 16-4 vs. 12 Maize High 10-10
(x-Newton 2-17; x-Salina South 1-18; x-eliminated from postseason play)
