By JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com

DERBY — Derby’s 6-foot-6 Kennedy Brown was as great as advertised.

The Division I all-state recruit scored 16 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked five shots in Derby’s 51-26 non league basketball victory over Great Bend Tuesday. 
Brown dominated the paint and kept the Panthers’ offense outside the lane. Sydney Nilles scored 14 points and hit two 3 pointers for No. 5-ranked Class 6A Derby (10-3).
Panthers Kate Warren and Brooklyn Burkhart played physical defense and drew three fouls on Brown, two on offensive calls. Warren was especially effective as she worked inside for four points and drew a foul.
“They did a good job making Brown work for her points. They did a good job,” said Great Bend coach Carrie Minton. “With her height, she’s one of the best we’ve seen. She’s hard to defend and keep off the boards. It’s been a long time since we played against that type of height.”
Great Bend tried to attack inside, but Brown blocked four inside shots the first quarter. Great Bend started with six turnovers and shot 2 of 10 in the first period.
Great Bend’s Plan B worked a little better as the Panthers turned to the perimeter. Carley Brack drilled a pair of 3 pointers and scored 16 points, two off her season average. Great Bend finished 2 of 13 on 3-pointers and 7 of 16 from inside the stripe. 
When Brown checked out, the Panthers worked effectively inside.
Derby led 11-6 after one quarter when Brack scored four points and Warren added a basket.
But Derby scored 18 points in the second quarter for a 29-11 halftime lead as Brown finished with 10 first-half points. Madi Young and Nilles hit 3-point goals.
Derby’s defense created 28 Panther turnovers, many which were converted into easy points. Many of the turnovers were unforced errors.
“We didn’t emphasize how hard their guards play defensively,” Minton said. “They collapsed and trapped us. We didn’t handle the pressure as well as we would’ve liked to. A lot of was things that we can control. We had a lot of unforced turnovers.”
Great Bend outscored Derby 11-7 in the fourth quarter with a running clock. Brack scored seven fourth-quarter points. Warren and Carly Dreiling added four points apiece.
Great Bend (8-5, 3-0 WAC) returns home against Liberal (10-3, 3-0 WAC) Friday with first place in the Western Athletic Conference on the line.
“We’ll regroup and the conference title is still out there,” Minton said. “We will have to compete harder than we did tonight.”
Minton said Leavenworth featured a trio of Division 1 players two years ago when 6-3 Rachel Blackburn (Nebraska); 6-2 Tyler Johnson (Kansas) and 6-2 Tashia Jones (Oklahoms State) signed with Division 1 programs. Leavenworth has captured two Class 5A state titles and lost to state champion St. Thomas Aquinas the other two times in the past four years.

DERBY 51, GREAT BEND 26
GB 6 5 4 11 — 26
Derby 11 18 15 7 — 51
GB—Brack 5-9 4-5 16; Warren 2-5 0-2 4; Dreiling 2-7 0-0 4; Mauler 0-1 2-2 2; Ireland 0-2 0-0 0; Dunekack 0-5 0-0 0; Mills 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 9-29 6-9 26.
DERBY—Brown 6-13 4-7 16; Nilles 4-7 4-5 14; Young 2-2 2-2 7; Johnson 1-4 0-0 3; Myers 1-1 2-2 4; Winter 0-2 0-0 0; Alford 0-1 0-0 0; Mills 0-1 0-0 0; Henson 0-1 0-0 0; Winkle 0-1 0-0 ; Kooser 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 16-37 13-22 51.
3-point goals—GB 2-13 (Brack 2-4, Ireland 0-2, Dreiling 0-3, Dunekack 0-4); Derby 4-12 (Nilles 2-4, Young 1-1, Johnson 1-3, Brown 0-1, Winter 0-1, Alford 0-2).