The Great Bend High School Lady Panthers wanted a home win this season.
A third-quarter explosion gave it to them on Saturday night at Panthers Fieldhouse, beating Liberal 52-41.
Great Bend trailed 19-18 at halftime before its spurt.
“The first half, we did some good things, but yet, we didn’t do enough to win games,” GBHS head coach Jason Tatkenhorst said. “That’s what we’ve been talking about now. It’s the end of February, nearly, and we’ve been talking about how to finish games, how to win games.
“We didn’t start the third quarter off very well, but once one girl made a shot, everyone kind of settled in. The girls were starting to shoot in rhythm, and it really wasn’t one girl. It was a lot of girls.”
Seven girls contributed in outscoring the Lady Redskins 20-7.
Hannah Hildebrand and Emily Cruse scored four points apiece.
Kelsey Crosby, who finished with a team-high 15 points, and Regan Unruh each dropped in a 3-pointer, and Katelyn Henning and Kaylie Doll each added a bucket.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Panthers grabbed nine offensive rebounds to give them second-chance shots to allow them to hold on to their lead.
“We were crashing the boards,” Tatkenhorst said. “At the same time, we got to trust that we’ve got a guard being back as a safety so there’s no easy layups by Liberal, and for the most part we did a good job with that.”
Liz Kutina scored all six of her points in the fourth quarter.
Jai Chapman led Liberal with a game-high 16 points.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Wester Athletic Conference

At Panther Fieldhouse
Great Bend

GIRLS

Saturday

Great Bend 52, Liberal 41
LIBERAL (2-15, 0-6)
     Kelly Ramirez 1 0-0 2, Alicia Collins 1 0-0 2, Ramey Petty 1 0-0 3, Jai Chapman 6 3-5 16, Lyric Robinson 0 0-2 0, Emily Bayouth 0 0-0 0, Amanda Collins 1 0-0 2, Shaquill Bond 3 1-2 7, Megan Besecker 1 0-0 3, Marisol Regalado 3 0-0 6. Totals 17 4-9 41.
GREAT BEND (3-15, 2-4)
     Brandi Schneider 1 0-2 2, Emily Cruse 2 0-0 4, Olivia Basye 1 0-2 2, Sara McAfee 0 0-0 0, Katelyn Henning 1 0-0 2, Hannah Hildebrand 2 0-1 4, Kelsie Doll 0 0-0 0, Liz Kutina 2 2-4 6, Regan Unruh 2 0-2 5, Kaylie Doll 1 2-2 4, Tarynn Stueder 0 0-1 0, Morgan Harwood 2 2-4 6, Kelsey Crosby 6 2-2 15, Kylee Spray 0 2-2 2. Totals 21 10-21 52.
Liberal                11   8    7  15  —  41
Great Bend          8  10  20  14  —  52
     Three-point goals — Liberal 3 (Petty, Chapman, Besecker); Great Bend 2 (Crosby, Unruh).