BY MACK McCLURE
Coming off a disappointing seventh-place finish at the 2011 Bluestem Classic over the weekend at El Dorado, the Great Bend High School Panthers clamped down on visiting Larned in non-conference action.
Applying the defensive clamps, the Panthers held Larned to zero points during an 11-minute stretch — from late in the opening quarter until the five-minute mark in the third quarter — and went on a 16-0 run themselves in coasting to a 50-28 victory on Tuesday night at Panther Fieldhouse.
Besides the defensive gem, Greg Hildebrand and Jace Bowman combined for over half of the Panthers’ points. Hildebrand matched a season high with 14 points and Bowman scored 12, as Great Bend improved its record to 7-6 overall.
But it all starts with the Panthers’ defense.
“I thought our defensive intensity and our defensive pressure picked up there after the first two minutes,” Great Bend head coach Chris Battin said. “We found the right intensity we needed and we were playing hard.
“It led to some easy baskets, and that’s something you have to do. If you get them to turn it over, you’ve got to take care of the basketball and get a score out of it and that’s something we’ve failed to do earlier in the season and I thought it was big for us tonight.”
After building a 14-9 lead through one quarter, Great Bend applied the clamps, holding Larned scoreless while going on a 10-0 run to take a 24-9 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.
Larned ended its drought at the five-minute mark in the third quarter on Josh Wise’s basket off a Jahman Hill feed to make it 30-11.
But not before GBHS scored the first six points of the period to top off its 16-0 surge. The lead was stretched to 45-17 after three quarters before Battin called off the dogs.
“We’ve played pretty well defensively at times (this season),” Battin said. “Sometimes our mental mistakes have killed us, but our defensive effort is getting better and better and that’s really what we look for because that’s what gets you to the next level and that’s where we would like to be.”
At the outset, Larned led 4-3 after Jeret Johnson’s basket at the 6:49 mark. Battin called a 30-second timeout to regroup and then his team responded, scoring five straight points for an 8-4 lead after a drive to the basket by Dakota Ellis and a 3-pointer from the right wing from Cameron Casey.
Larned’s Justin Vrati converted a three-point play at the 5:10 mark, cutting the margin to 8-7, before Hildebrand and Gray scored baskets and Bowman added a pull-up jumper to make it 14-7.
The Indians ended their first drought of not scoring for five minutes when Hill’s steal and layup with 0:09 left in the first quarter made it 14-9.
But Larned would then go the next 11 minutes without a point, which proved to be fatal in its quest to stay in contention.
Hildebrand scored the Panthers’ final three baskets of the half as they forced Larned into turnovers, in which they turned into points. Ellis and Roderick Frise had Great Bend’s other two baskets in the quarter to build its lead to 15 points at the break.
Great Bend forced Larned into 20 turnovers on the night, translating into 22 Great Bend points, several from Hildebrand.
“Some of Greg’s (points) we’re just getting out on transition and he found himself open,” Battin said of Hildebrand’s productivity. “Some of them was going to offensive glass.
“Jace hit some nice little jump shots there and got himself going. I thought, overall, it was a pretty good effort from both of them.”
Bowman also made 1 of 2 free throws against the Indians, bringing his total to 19 for 21 on the season (90.5 percent).
“He’s doing really well,” Battin said of Bowman’s foul shooting. “That’s important. You have got to be able step up and knock down free throws and maybe we’d like to see him get to the line more, as good as he’s shooting it.
“You can’t beat that percentage, really.”
Larned (3-10) was led by Justin Vratil with 13 points, including a 3-pointer and a three-point play. Wise added seven points for the Indians and Hill scored six.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Non-Conference
At Great Bend
Panther Fieldhouse
BOYS
Tuesday
Great Bend 50, Larned 28
LARNED (3-10)
Jahman Hill 2 1-4 6, Jered Johnson 1 0-0 2, Justin Vratil 3 6-8 13, Tyler Gleason 0 0-0 0, Zach Wilson 0 0-0 0, John Sallee 0 0-0 0, Josh Wise 3 1-2 7, Brady Keith 0 0-0 0, Nolan Allison 0 0-0 0, Zach Houser 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 8-14 28.
GREAT BEND (7-6)
Connor Sell 0 0-0 0, Matt Marshall 0 0-0 0, Brock Ibarra 0 0-0 0, Jace Bowman 5 1-2 12, Sam Hafner 0 0-0 0, Greg Hildebrand 6 2-2 14, Cameron Casey 3 1-2 9, Jeff Pike 1 0-0 3, Will Gray 2 0-0 4, Dakota Ellis 2 0-0 4, Ethan Henderson 0 0-0 0, Roderick Frise 1 0-0 2, Nick Warren 0 0-0 0, Wyatt Bayless 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 4-6 50.
Larned 9 0 8 11 — 28
Great Bend 14 10 21 5 — 50
Three-point goals — Great Bend 4 (Casey 2, Bowman, Pike); Larned 2 (Vratil, Hill).
