By JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
Great Bend’s “Run DBD,” is alive and well.
The trio of Camryn Dunekack, Carley Brack and Carly Dreiling ignited a 17-3 scoring run that led to a 46-36 Western Athletic Conference victory over Garden City Friday.
Great Bend (10-6, 5-0 WAC) maintains a one-game lead on Liberal (12-4, 4-1 WAC) for first place in the WAC.
Brack came out firing with the game’s first six points for a 21-9 first-quarter lead. Dunekack hit a pair of 3-pointers and Dreiling contributed six first-half points. They combined for 24 points for a 30-13 halftime lead.
Brack and Dunekack each scored 14 points to lead the Panthers.
“It was a great win,” said Great Bend coach Carrie Minton. “The girls came out and played hard, played pressure defense and attacked the basket. Garden City is extremely scrappy.”
The Panthers took charge with a stunning 17-3 run that turned a 6-4 deficit into a 21-7 lead. Brooklyn Burkhart contributed a pair of baskets in the early surge. A solid defensive second quarter that held the Buffaloes to 2 of 13 shooting led to a 30-13 halftime edge.
“The girls worked hard to get off to a fast start,” Minton said. “They passed the ball to the open shooter.”
The Buffaloes shot six of 24 from the field with 12 turnovers. Abbie Dart provided a spark with a team high 14 points and solid ballhandling and leadership.
Garden City (5-11, 1-4 WAC) played crisper the second half to outscore the Panthers 23-16 and slice the lead to six points at 41-35.
“The game became more physical the second half,” Minton said. “We made good passes to get good shots. But we didn’t always maintain our composure.”
The Panthers did not score for nine possessions to start the second half. Garden City’s Josie Calzonetti, Abbie Dart and Lexi Hogan combined for seven points to slice the Panther lead to 30-20. The lead was down to 37-29 after three quarters.
Dart’s 3-pointer with 6:05 to play to make it 39-32. Dart scored on a driving shot and Kyra Bellows added a free throw for a 41-35 margin with 2:12 left.
Great Bend’s Burkhart, Annie Mills and Dreiling made free throws down the stretch. Brack made two steals as the Buffaloes committed three turnovers in the final two minutes.
Dart delivered a spark after missing the first time the teams played.
“Abbie is huge contributor who gives Garden City an extra dimension, but we did a really good defensive job on her,” Minton said.
GC 9 4 16 7 – 36
GB 21 9 5 11 – 46
GC—Long 0-3 1-1 1; Dart 6-16 0-2 14; Stinemetz 2-5 0-0 4; Hogan 3-6 1-2 7; Bellows 0-4 1-2 1; Calzonetti 4-9 0-0 9; Gerber 0-2 0-0 0; Totals 15-45 3-7 36.
GB—Carley Brack 6-10 2-3 14; Camryn Dunekack 6-13 0-3 14; Annie Mills 1-4 3-4 5; Brooklyn Burkhart 2-3 2-2 6; Kate Warren 0-4 0-0 0; Carly Dreiling 2-8 2-5 7; Totals 17-42 9-17 46.
3-point goals—GC 3-16 (Dart 2-8, Calzonetti 1-4, Long 0-2, Stinemetz 0-2), GB 3-11 (Dunekack 2-5, Dreiling 1-3, Brack 0-1, Mills 0-2).
