It was a familiar script for the Great Bend boys basketball team.
Dig a double-digit deficit. Rally with inspired and hustling play. Come up just short.
Dodge City used a 14-2 scoring burst for a 63-50 Western Athletic Conference basketball victory over Great Bend Tuesday night.
Hot-shooting Jacob Murray led an inspired Panther rally with 15 points in the final nine minutes. The extra effort delivered a 20-point fourth period, but the Red Demons scored 24 points off rebounds and free throws.
Six-foot-six Noah Williams was a tower of strength for the Red Demons with 20 points and 11 rebounds, with eight points coming off second-chance baskets. Hard-driving Dayton McGroarty scored 19 points. Matt Karns scored five points to end a 14-2 run that Williams and McGroarty started for a 39-23 lead.
“Free throw boxouts were crucial,” said Great Bend coach Chris Battin. “Noah Williams killed us on the glass. We had a hard time finding him at times.”
Trey Ibarra led the Panthers’ first-half effort with 12 points. But the Red Demons (3-3, 1-0 WAC) worked for a 25-19 halftime lead behind a 9-0 second-quarter spurt. Dodge City showed off several high-low assists to the low post.
Meanwhile, the Panthers failed to attack the basket aggressively until Murray’s second-half spark. The Panthers were unable to break down the Red Demons’ defense. The Panthers outscored the Red Demons 15-3 from 3-point range, but lost the battle inside.
“We passed and cut and didn’t create anything,” Battin said. “Offensively, we got passive and we’ve got to attack. The second half, we started attacking the glass and we were better offensively. It comes down to having people step up and make shots.”
Dodge City’s Bryce Unruh checked Panther Cody Crosby, holding him to one field goal and six points, nine below his average.
“Bryce accepted the challenge — give him a ton of credit,” said Dodge City coach Dennis Hamilton. “Bryce showed us something tonight with how hard he made Crosby work. He’s going to get some better defensive assignments.”
Hamilton sports a 12-1 record against Battin the past seven seasons.
Great Bend (2-4, 0-1) plays Garden City at home Friday.

DODGE CITY GIRLS 72, GREAT BEND 31
Great Bend’s girls were poised to knock off the defending champion in Tuesday’s Western Athletic Conference basketball opener.
Reigning champion Dodge City left nothing to chance by roaring to a 20-6 lead en route to a dominating 72-31 WAC victory.
Jessie Harshberger led Dodge City with 23 points and keyed the Red Demons’ aggressive defense that forced 23 Panther turnovers.
“I’m not sure who that team was. We didn’t show up and compete,” said Great Bend coach Carrie Minton. “We had a different temperament and attitude than we showed our first five games. We’ve got to play a lot better basketball.”
Minton said the Red Demons’ physical play intimidated the Panthers and got them out of rhythm. Normally, the Panthers attack the basket and get to the free throw line.
Harshberger started the second half with back-to-back steals as the Red Demons outscored the Panthers 35-9 in the second half. The Panthers were 1 of 18 from the field in the second half.
“We played timid basketball. We scored one basket in the second half,” Minton said. “We let Dodge City’s defense dictate what we did. We had critical turnovers and they controlled the offensive rebounds.”
The 5-11 Harshberger helped slow down Panther standout Carley Brack with denial defense.
“She can drive the ball and shoot the 3-pointer, so I got up on her,” Harshberger. “I got some good help defense a couple of times, so we played good team defense tonight.”
Harshberger scored a season high 23 points.
“Things fell my way tonight,” Harshberger said. “That was definitely our best game of the season.”
Dodge City coach Kelley Snodgrass was surprised the Panthers didn’t perform better after preparing the game plan.
“I’m shocked by what happened,, but we really played good basketball,” she said. “Great Bend is a tough place to play and Great Bend had showed on film they were a dangerous team with some offensive firepower.”
Dodge City (4-2, 1-0 WAC) used its superior height and strength to overpower the Panthers inside and outside. The Red Demons had an average 2-inch height advantage, plus superior inside size. The Red Demons led 22-10 after one period behind 11 second-chance points and eight points off 10 takeaways.
The Red Demons did a solid job driving to the basket and worked the boards for 13 second-chance first-half points. Dodge City used occasional pressure defense and solid half-court defense,
Great Bend (4-2, 0-1 WAC) featured a solid perimeter shooting team, but the Panthers were knocked off the ball on the outside and outmuscled inside.

DODGE CITY GIRLS 72, GREAT BEND 31
Dodge City 22 15 17 18 – 72
Great Bend 10 12 6 3 – 31
DC—Price 1-5 2-2 4; Brianna Bradshaw 3-6 1-2 7; Nelson 5-7 0-0 10; Tia Bradshaw 3-5 4-6 10; Maple 0-4 0-0 0; Harshberger 11-19 0-0 23; Shelor 2-4 1-2; Nichols 5-9 0-1 11; Morales 1-1 0-0 2; Sowers 0-2 0-0 0; Keck 0-2 0-0 0; Totals 31-64 8-13 72.
GB—Ireland 1-5 0-0 2; Kottas 1-7 0-0 3; Dunekack 1-4 0-2 2; Burkhart 1-1 2-5 4; Warren 0-3 2-4 2; Brack 3-14 5-7 12; Neeland 0-0 0 0-0 0; Dreiling 2-3 2-6 4; Totals 9-37 11-24 31.
3-point goals—DC 2-11 (Hershberger 1-2, Nichols 1-2, Maple 0-1, T. Bradshaw 0-1, B. Bradshaw 0-1, Price 0-2, Shelor 0-2); GB 2-10 (Brack 1-3, Kottas 1-5, Dreiling 0-1, Ireland 0-1).

DODGE CITY BOYS 63, GREAT BEND 50
Dodge City 10 15 14 24 – 63
Great Bend 9 10 11 20 – 50
DC—McGroarty 7-9 5-8 19; Bryce Unruh 2-6 1-3 5; Reid 3-7 0-0 7; Baker 0-1 1-2 1; Walters 2-4 2-2 6; Karns 2-2 1-1 5; Noah Williams 8-14 4-5 20; Schowengerdt 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 24-44 14-21 63.
GB— Murray 4-9 5-7 15; Ibarra 3-7 4-5 12; Ireland 3-5 0-0 7; Crosby 1-9 4-4 6; Perry 1-3 2-2 4; Elliott 1-2 0-0 2; Smith 2-3 0-0 4; Takota Esfeld 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 15-39 15-20 50.
3-point goals—DC 1-8 (Reid 1-5, B. Unruh 0-2, Baker 0-1), GB 5-16 (Ibarra 2-5, Murray 2-5, Ireland 1-3, Elliott 0-1, T. Esfeld 0-1, Crosby 0-1).

AREA PREP SCORES
TUESDAY
BOYS
St. John 80, Kinsley 21
Central Plains 66, Smith Center 37
Larned 71, Smoky Valley 61
Pratt 60, Hoisington 52
Macksville 73, Cunningham 62

GIRLS
Central Plains 45, Smith Center 23
Smoky Valley 53, Larned 40
Hoisington 38, Pratt 33
Kinsley 43, St. John 41
Lincoln 53, Chase 33
Cunningham 46, Macksville 23
Otis-Bison 55, Stafford 32