TOPEKA — The Great Bend High School’s girls’ basketball team just go overwhelmed in the semifinal round of the Class 5A State Tournament on Friday evening.
The Lady Panthers fell 76-58 against Salina Central at the Topeka Expocentre.
“We knew coming in that Central was a tremendous team and we were going to have to play our best for 32 minutes,” GBHS head coach Carrie Minton said. “The girls came out and they played hard for 32 minutes. Unfortunately, we got a little rattled at the beginning of the game and they forced us into some turnovers based off their pressure.
“We haven’t seen that type of pressure for an entire game, I think, all season.”
The Lady Mustangs moved on to take on Leavenworth, the No. 1 seed that’s 23-1 this season, in the 5A championship game.
The Lady Panthers challenge Kapaun-Mt. Carmel, which lost to Leavenworth 48-26 in the semifinal round.
“It’s tough (to regroup),” Minton said. “That’s one of the toughest things about where we’re at. You realize that you lost the hope of a state title, but you get a chance to be one of a very few teams who get to finish out the season with a win.
“That’s really what our girls are going to focus on.”
Great Bend did not get out to the kind of start it would’ve liked to see.
Salina Central came out and put the first seven points on the board, part of a 10-3 run that was interrupted by a McKenna Mauler 3-pointer.
The Lady Panthers regained their footing, but trailed 22-11 after the first quarter.
Great Bend and Salina Central traded blows in the early goings of the second quarter, until the Lady Mustangs wenton a 7-0 run midway through the period.
The Lady Panthers managed to regain some ground heading into the half.
A pair of free throws from Tarynn Stueder sparked a 10-0 Great Bend run.
Morgan Harwood followed with a putback and a pair of free throws, Kaylie Doll put in two free throws and Lauren Welsch capped the run with a driving layup, sending Great Bend to the locker room down 41-31 at halftime.
“Part of that was because we’d done a good job attacking the basket and getting (Shaelyn Martin) and (Emily Wood) in a little bit of foul trouble,” Minton said. “That allowed us to attack the basket, but coming out in the third quarter, they were back in.”
Salina Central took control of the tempo again in the third quarter, out scoring Great Bend 22-13 to hold a 63-46 lead heading into the final quarter.
The Lady Mustangs pushed it up to a 20-point lead in the fourth period and held Great Bend at arm’s length for the final eight minutes.
Welsch finished with a team-leading 12 points for the Lady Panthers, going 4-for-5 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
Kaylie Doll added 10 points, and Morgan Hardwood finished with 13 rebounds and eight points.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Western Athletic Conference

GIRLS

Friday

At Topeka
Topeka Expocentre

Salina Central 76, Great Bend 58
Great Bend (21-3)
     Kacee Kasselman 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Welsch 4-5 4-4 12, Hannah Hildebrand 1-4 4-4 6, Kelsie Doll 1-4 0-0 2, Kylee Spray 0-3 0-2 0, Regan Unruh 3-7 1-2 7, Kaylie Doll 2-4 6-6 10, McKenna Mauler 4-8 0-0 9, Tarynn Stueder 1-4 2-2 4, Hannah Mauler 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan Harwood 2-4 4-4 8, Madison Unruh 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 18-43 21-25 58.
Salina Central
   Madison Carlgren 1-3 0-0 3, Emily Wood 5-11 6-7 18, Mackenzie Morris 1-5 0-0 3, Shea Myers 0-0 0-0 0, Marysa Bradshaw 0-2 0-0 0, Brooke Peters 4-13 0-0 11, Keisha Hamilton 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan Hauserman 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey Driver 1-2 1-2 3, Casey Knoth 0-0 4-4 4, Hailey Mayfield 3-6 3-5 9, Shaelyn Martin 8-12 9-9 25.
Totals 23-54 23-27 76.
Great Bend       11     20    22    12  —  58
Salina Central 22     19    13    13  —  76
      Three-point goals — Great Bend 1-10 (M. Mauler 1-1, Ke. Doll 0-1, Spray 0-3, Unruh 0-3, Ka. Doll 0-1, Harwood 0-1); Salina Central 7-24 (Peters 3-11, Wood 2-7, Morris 1-3, Carlgren 1-2, Martin 0-1).