BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
Great Bend girls basketball coach Carrie Minton believed her team give her maximum effort against Hays High.
But it wasn’t enough as the Indians rallied from a 14-point deficit for a hard-fought 50-47 Western Athletic Conference victory Friday.
The Panthers’ final desperation 3-pointer by Carley Brack was superbly defended by Hays High’s Maddie Hutchinson, who prevented a final tying attempt. Brack created contact with Hutchinson outside the stripe, but no foul was whistled at the final buzzer.
The Indians converted eight 3-pointers, including the game-winning shot by Isabel Robben on a perfect pass from teammate Kallie Leiker for a 48-47 lead. Robben finished with 17 points and Leiker added 13 points.
The Indians’ defense collapsed on Brack, who was forced into back-to-back turnovers, the second one off her shoe out-of-bounds. Leiker and Robben each made a free throw for a 50-47 lead.
“The girls played really hard and we executed a lot of of things really well,” said Minton. “We played really well.”
The Indians converted 8 of 18 tries to outscore the Panthers 24-12 from long range. The Indians converted many of the Panthers’ 25 turnovers into easy transition baskets.
“We had some turnovers that hurt us,” Minton said. “What really hurt us was we didn’t get out of their 3-point shooters a couple of times. Hays really hurt us with the outside shot. We played so well that first half. But Hays started to make their perimeter shots.”
Brack worked hard for 16 points, 12 in the fourth quarter to give the Panthers a chance. She beat double teams and split the defense for four fourth-quarter field goals. Her 3-point play gave the Panthers a 47-45 lead with a minute left.
But Leiker made the game’s decisive play with an assist to the red-hot Robben for a 48-47 lead.
The Panthers played their best half of the season for a shocking 22-11 lead by holding the Indians to 3 of 20 shooting. Sydneu Unruh provided a spark with eight first-half points and terrific hustling defense. Camyryn Dunekack contributed nine points and eight rebounds. Robben scored three times and her Indian teammates missed 18 first-half field goals.
Great Bend (3-17, 1-7 WAC) will travel to WAC champion Liberal (19-1, 8-0 WAC) for the 5A state playoffs Feb. 28 riding a 12-game losing streak. Liberal swept the Panthers 57-38 at Liberal and 52-26 at Great Bend. The Panthers beat Buhler 52-38 Jan. 12 – 39 days ago.
HH 3 8 19 20 – 50
GB 12 10 11 1 – 47
HAYS (13-7)—Robben 6-11 1-2 17, Leiker 4-9 4-6 13, Hutchinson 2-7 3-6 8, Dale 2-9 2-4 6, Nunnery 2-9 0-4 6, Denning 0-5 0-2 0, Totals 16-50 10-22 50.
GREAT BEND (3-17)—Brack 6-12 4-7 16, Dunekack 3-9 2-2 9, Sydney Unruh 3-11 0-0 8, Urban 2-4 2-2 6, Mauler 1-6 1-2 4, Clark 1-3 2-4 4, Herter 0-1 0-0 0, Kaylee Unruh 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 16-47 11-17 47.
3-pointers—H 8-18 (Robben 4-5, Nunnery 2-3, Leiker 1-2, Hutchinsom 1-4, Dale 0-1, Denning 0-3), GB 4-16 (S. Unruh 2-7, Herter 1-2, Mauler 1-4, K. Unruh 0-1, Brack 0-2). Rebounds—H 36 (Dale 7), GB 39 (Clark 8, Dunekack 8). TO—H 16, GB 25.
