HOISINGTON — After a shaky start from both high school basketball teams, the Great Bend Lady Panthers took a small lead late in the first quarter.
Thanks to a strong second half by Morgan Harwood, Great Bend beat Hoisington 55-41 on Tuesday night at the Hoisington Activities Center.
“We finally started to find Morgan, and she did what it takes inside to calm us down a little bit,” GBHS head coach Carrie Minton said. “This is a team that we match up pretty well with height-wise. Morgan came off a big weekend, and we just wanted for her to keep looking for her shots.”
Harwood, who finished with a game-high 26 points, scored all of Great Bend’s second-half points until Kylee Spray hit a 3-pointer with 4:28 left in the game.
Trailing 26-16 starting the third quarter, Hoisington went on an 8-2 run to close the gap to 28-24.
Hoisington’s Jordin Greer and Rylie Koester each hit a pair of free throws and a basket during the run, but Harwood scored the last two points of the quarter on a putback to make it 30-24 with eight minutes remaining.
Koester finished with 16 points to lead the Lady Cardinals.
Harwood scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, and McKenna Mauler unleashed back-to-back 3-pointers to keep the Lady Panthers in front down the stretch.
“It seemed like we finally found our rhythm in about the fourth quarter,” Minton said. “Our shots weren’t falling. We just kept telling the girls that we needed to continue to attack. Eventually, they have to start to fall.”
Neither team scored until 4:43 remained on the clock in the first quarter as both teams turned the ball over numerous times.
Hoisington finished with 20 turnovers. Great Bend committed 17.
Regan Unruh, who came out of the game late with an injury, broke the scoreless tie with a jumper, which was followed quickly by a quick shot off the glass from Hoisington’s Abi Rziha.
A 6-1 Lady Panthers run made it 10-5 on a Harwood putback, 1 of 2 free throws from Mauler, who finished in double figures with 12 points, and a 3 from Unruh.
Lady Cardinals post player Presley Smith made the back end of two free throws during the run.
Great Bend added to its lead bit by bit in the second quarter, leading 26-16 at intermission.
The Lady Panthers struggled from the free-throw line, making 7 of 15 on the night.
“Not just tonight, our free throws the last couple ball games have been key,” Minton said. “Fortunately tonight, we had enough of them fall that it wasn’t a huge factor, but it’s something we need to work on.”
Great Bend hosts Liberal for Homecoming on Friday night.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Non-Conference

GIRLS

Tuesday

At Hoisington
Hoisington Activities Center

Great Bend 55, Hoisington 41
GREAT BEND (8-5)
    Lauren Welsch 0 0-0 0, Kelsie Doll 1 0-0 2, Kylee Spray 1 0-0 3, Regan Unruh 2 1-2 6, Kaylie Doll 1 1-2 3, McKenna Mauler 4 2-6 12, Tarynn Stueder 1 1-2 3, Morgan Harwood 12 2-3 26. Totals 22 7-15 55.
HOISINGTON (6-9)
    Mykela Riedl 3 0-0 7, Jordin Greer 2 4-4 8, Rylie Koester 4 8-10 16, Abi Rziha 2 0-0 4, Abbi Demel 0 1-2 1, Presley Smith 1 3-5 5, Olivia Lowry 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 16-21 41.
Great Bend    12    14    4    25  —  55
Hoisington       7      9    8    17  —  41  

    Three-point goals — Great Bend 4 (Mauler 2, Unruh, Spray); Hoisington 1 (Riedl). Total fouls — Great Bend 19, Hoisington 16. Fouled out — None.