Brooklyn Burkhart exhibited a fancy passing touch, Keely Ireland showed off her patented spin move for the first time. Camryn Dunekack was a force inside.
It was that type of perfect night for the Great Bend girls basketball team, which avenged an early-season loss with a dominating 54-41 Western Athletic Conference victory over rival Hays High,
The Panthers (6-2, 3-0 WAC) led by double digits in all four quarters to cruise past the Indians (4-3, 0-2) which starts with back-to-back league road losses. The Panthers play at Buhler Friday.
Great Bend dictated the tempo with solid half-court defense and an attacking offense that helped the Panthers convert 27 of 46 free throws.
“We did a nice job pushing the ball up the court,” said Great Bend coach Carrie Minton. “We worked the ball inside and played aggressive and got to the free throw line. We would like to shoot a higher percentage.”
Camryn Dunekack led the Panthers with 15 points and Annie Mills played the role of supersub with 12 points and 10 free throws. Carly Dreiling added nine points and Carley Brack added a season low six points. Brooklyn Burkhart led the Panthers with several beautiful assists.
Hays High’s defensive ace Savannah Schneider earned a gold star for shutting out Panther Carley Brack from the field after back-to-back 27-point games. Brack, averaging 22 points, scored six free throws. Schneider denied Brack the basketball for much of the ballgame.
“Hays did a nice job face-guarding and denying Carley the basketball. We’ll see more of that as the season goes along. It was great to see the girls step up and make plays,” Minton said. “We got some nice contributions off the bench.”
Dunekack jump started the Panthers with seven first-quarter points. The Indians had 20 possessions, but had seven turnovers with two of 13 shooting. Seven free throws and four points by Kate Warren led to a 26-18 halftime lead.
Dunekack scored three third-quarter baskets and the Panthers built a 39-24 lead after three quarters.
Hays High’s Savannah Schneider scored 10 points. The Indians missed 15 3-point attempts and shot 16 of 52 from the field ad 9 of 21 on free throws.
“We did a nice job defensively controlling the game,” Minton said.
HH 4 14 6 17 – 41
GB 15 11 13 15 – 54
HH—Kleweno 2-9 1-2 5; Dale 2-4 0-0 4; Nunnery 0-4 0-0 0; Leiker 3-12 0-0 6; Robben 1-2 4-4 6; Schneider 4-9 2-4 10; Hutchinson 1-7 1-4 3; Schoenberger 1-1 1-3 2; Keller 2-3 1-4 5; Totals 16-52 9-21 41.
GB—Carley Brack 0-6 6-10 6; Carly Dreiling 3-3 3-4 9; Keely Ireland 1-3 1-2 3; Camryn Dunekack 5-12 4-6 15; Brooklyn Burkhart 0-1 3-6 3;; Kate Warren 3-4 0-0 6; Annie Mills 1-2 10-16 12; Jenna Mauler 0-0 0-2 0; Totals 13-31 27-46 54.
3-point goals—HH 0-15 (Leiker 0-1, Hutchinson 0-2, Robben 0-2, Schneider 0-2, Nunnery 0-2, Kleweno 0-5); GB 1-7 (Ireland 0-1, Dunekack 1-5, Mills 0-1).
