BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
LARNED – After back-to-back-to-back close losses, Great Bend threw a basketball party that celebrated Kyle Kriegh's first varsity coaching victory with the Panthers.
The Panthers roared past 3A Larned 73-23 with brilliant teamwork and red-hot 3-point shooting to end the first half. The Panthers' Carter Coombs, Sage Koelsch, Braylon Council and Paco Hernandez drilled four consecutive 3-pointers to spark an incredible 28-1 scoring burst for a 49-6 lead.
The Panthers led 21-5 when Larned's Carlos Ibarra fed Luke Wilson for a basket. The Panthers scored 15 consecutive points started by teamwork when Koelsch fed Joseph Moeder for a layup. Stefan Spray scored six points in that stretch. The Panthers followed with 13-1 scoring burst behind the four consecutive 3-pointers.
The Panthers converted 8 of 22 first-half 3-pointers and finished 10 of 33. Carter Coombs (13), Koelsch (12), Stefan Spray (11) and Joseph Moeder (10) scored in double figures. The pretiiest play of the night showed brotherly love when Mathew Moeder directed a pass to brother Joseph Moeder for a 3-point play.
"We shared the basketball and moved the ball," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh. "We played unselfish. I wanted them to be the guy who had the assist. The big thing is we did the little things right tonight."
The Panthers shot 33 3-pointers for the second time. But Coombs led a second option with several successful drives off a ball fake.
"We drove the ball from the perimeter, which we haven't done," said Kriegh. "That's where we showed improvement."
Luke Wilson powered for a pair of 3-point plays in an 8-point night for Larned (0-5). Thiago Hess added six points. The Indians had 28 turnovers.
At times, the Indians ran a perfect play and pass, only to miss a contested inside shot.
"We came down, executed a play and scored a basket with Wilson," said Larned coach Luke Steinlage. "We're inconsistent. We didn't do that again and had a hard time scoring. We got away from what we were trying to do."
The Panthers (1-4) return home Friday to play Emporia, a successful basketball program. Larned (0-5) is done until January.
Great Bend 21 31 19 2 – 73
Larned 5 6 9 3 – 23
GREAT BEND (1-4)–Coombs 5-10 0-0 13, Stefan Spray 4-7 2-4 11, Joseph Moeder 4-6 2-2 10, Koelsch 5-8 1-2 12, Hernandez 1-2 0-0 3, Stuhlsatx 2-4 0-0 5, Nicholson 0-2 0-0 0, Maddox Spray 3-7 0-0 7, Council 2-8 0-0 6, Mathew Moeder 3-4 0-0 6, Dicks 0-2 0-0 0, Brack 0-1 0-2 0, Totals 29-6-1 5-10 73.
LARNED (0-5)–Reynolds 0-5 0-0 0, Hess 1-2 4-6 6, Colglazier0-0 1-6 1, Orth 0-0 1-2 1, Ibarra 0-2 1-2 1, Wilson 3-6 2-4 8, Shaver 0-1 0-0 0, Fitzpatrick 1-3 0-0 2, Sanders 1-1 0-0 2, Brayson Bird 0-0 1-2 1, Lemuz 0-1 1-2 1, Jayden Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 6-21 11-22 23.
3-pointers–GB 10-33 (Coombs 3-8, Council 2-8, Hernandez 1-1, Koelsch 1-3, M. Spray 1-4, Stuhlsatz 1-3, S. Spray 1-2, Dicks 0-2, Nicholson 0-2); L 0-5 (Fitzpatrick 0-1, Hess 0-1, J. Smith 0-1, Reynolds 0-2)
