BY MACK McCLURE
mmcclure@gbtribune.com
 
Leading by four points at halftime on Friday night at Great Bend High School and Panther Fieldhouse, GBHS had nothing go right in the second half as Garden City pulled away for a 38-25 victory.
It was the first Western Athletic Conference win for Garden City (8-9, 1-4), and an agonizing loss on Homecoming Night for the Lady Panthers (6-10, 3-2).
A telling statistic in a mistake-filled game where the two teams had a collective 52 turnovers was the fact that Great Bend managed just two two-point field goals in the second half and only four for the entire game. It made life easy for the Lady Buffs, who would go on a 27-10 run over the final 16 minutes.
“We absolutely didn’t have it,” GBHS head coach Jason Tatkenhorst said. “We felt fortunate to be ahead at halftime (15-11) and sooner or later, Garden City is going to score some buckets.
“We tried to start the whole game plan over in the second half and getting back to playing like we know how to play and it just didn’t happen. According to the scorebook, we only scored four two-point baskets in the entire game and it can’t happen if you want to be successful … I don’t know what else to say.”
Lexie Brack scored all but two of the Lady Panthers’ first-half points, hitting hit 3 of 5 field goals, including 2-for-3 on 3-pointers, and converted all five of her free throws.
But Brack was held scoreless in the second half as Garden City made a concerted effort from letting her get freed up for the open 3. No one else picked up the slack.
“The way we are, it seems, if someone sees it goes in, then we all think we’re pretty good,” Tatkenhorst said of his team’s shooting. “But if we miss several shots, we get down and we think nothing’s going to go in.
“So I guess it’s pretty mental. (Friday’s game) reminded me a lot of December basketball, where were scoring in the 20s. We had nine straight games after Christmas where we were playing pretty darn good and we’re scoring 50 points and then we have this.”
In a mistake-filled opening half, the two teams combined for more miscues than points as each team had 16 turnovers as GBHS led 15-11 at the break —that’s 32 turnovers and only 26 points between the two teams combined.
Both teams spent most of the first half turning the ball over to each other, though Great Bend’s defense forced the cold-shooting Buffs into an 0-for-10 goose egg in the first quarter and made only 3 of 18 shots in the first half.
It was Great Bend’s turn to turn cold after the break. It finished with 27 turnovers, compared to 23 for Garden.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Western Athletic Conference
At Panther Fieldhouse
GIRLS
Friday
Garden City 38, Great Bend 25
GARDEN CITY (8-9, 1-4)
     Johna McClelland 3 1-2 7, Abbey Campbell 0 0-0 0, Megan Donahoe 1 0-0 2, Kristen Heiman 3 2-3 10, Kaitlyn Munoz 0 0-0 0, Taryne Tempel 3 3-11 9, Cydnie Brown 2 1-5 5, Shelby Heatwole 0 0-0 0, Traci Martinez 1 2-3 5, Chinsa Ekweariri 0 0-0 0. Totals 13-37 9-24 38.
GREAT BEND (6-10, 3-2)
     Brandi Schneider 0 0-0 0, Emily Cruse 0 0-0 0, Lexie Brack 3 5-7 13, Kelsey Crosby 1 0-0 2, Katelyn Henning  0 2-2 2, Olivia Basye 0 0-0 0, McKenna Mauler 0 0-0 0, Liz Kutina 0 1-4 1, Kaitlee Spray 0 0-0 0, Jennifer Allende 0 0-1 0, Taycee Bunn 0 0-0 0, Cassidy Tutak 1 3-5 5, Kalie LeShore 1 0-0 2, Jordan Haney 0 0-0 0. Totals 6-38 11-19 25.
Garden City    3    8    14    13    —    38
Great Bend    8    7     6     4    —    25
     Three-point goals — Great Bend 2 (Brack 2); Garden City 3 (Heiman 2, Ekweariri).