HAYS — Chalk up victory No. 1 for first-year Great Bend High School girls’ head basketball coach Carrie Minton and the Lady Panthers.
Smothering hometown Thomas More Prep Marian with an uptempo transition game and relentless on-ball defensive pressure, Great Bend blasted the Lady Monarchs 58-37 on Friday afternoon in the consolation bracket of the Hays City Shoot-Out at the Hays Middle School gymnasium.
“We met with the girls (Friday morning) and told them that they needed to be able come out with the same intensity, even though it was the season opener and even though it was a loss (44-28 to De Soto),” Minton said. “We needed to have that same intensity that we had on opening night, and we really got after them defensively.”
Great Bend’s Tarynn Stueder, a junior forward, pumped in 12 points, junior guard Regan Unruh added 10 points and junior forward Hannah Hildebrand finished with nine for the Lady Panthers (1-1), who advanced to Saturday’s consolation winners’ bracket game.
Great Bend attacked the basket relentlessly throughout the first half in racing to a 29-11 halftime lead, an advantage they built on in the second half, cresting at 47-22 on Kaylee Doll’s steal and breakaway layup late in the third quarter.
The Lady Panthers maintained that lead the remainder of the way, forcing TMP into turnovers and easy baskets on the other end in the process.
“We watched them the night before,” Minton said. “TMP plays seven girls. We knew we could take advantage of getting up and down the floor. We have a number of girls that we can put in one after another and keep up the level of intensity that we start the game with.
“It’s always great to get that first win of the season. For these young ladies, I thought it was important for their confidence. We are young, and any time you can get a win, period, it’s great, but I just felt like it was important for the girls after they worked so hard the night before.”
During a prosperous first half, Unruh’s wing shot, a Hildebrand three-point play and a Stueder 3-pointer extended the Lady Panthers’ 14-3 first-quarter lead to 22-3 with 3:57 left in the second quarter.
TMP put a mini-run late in the half to close to 29-11 at intermission.
Unruh scored six of her eight first-half points in the opening quarter, where the Lady Panthers built their 11-point lead, scoring half as many points as they did in their season opener the day before, a 44-28 loss to De Soto in the opening round.
Great Bend jumped on TMP quick. After Unruh’s basket, Stueder followed by sinking two free throws and then Unruh popped in a 3-pointer to give the Lady Panthers a 7-0 lead at the 4:57 mark. Morgan Harwood’s rebound basket, along a Stueder bucket, extended their lead to 11-0.
The Monarchs’ Heather Ruder, who finished with a game-high 16 points, scored their first points on a 3-pointer with 2:06 remaining in the quarter, making it 11-3. But Great Bend closed the quarter on a Hildebrand basket and a free throw by Unruh.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
30th Annual Hays City Shoot-Out
GIRLS
At Hays
Hays Middle School
Thursday
First Round
Great Bend 58,
Thomas More Prep Marian 37
TMP MARIAN (0-2)
Younie Tyra 0 0-0 0, Annaka Applequist 0 4-4 4, Kelli Veatch 0 0-0 0, Jenna Schuckman 1 0-5 2, Annie Mindrup 0 0-0 0, Macy Menges 0 0-0 0, Heather Ruder 4 2-2 16, Kaylor Gottschalk 0 0-2 0. Melissa Pfeifer 1 1-2 3, Allison Pfeifer 4 2-3 10, Samantha Younie 0 0-0 0, Kelsie DeWitt 0 0-2 0. Totals 12 9-20 37.
GREAT BEND (1-1)
Hannah Hildebrand 4 1-1 9, Kelsie Doll 1 0-0 2, Peyton Burkhart 0 2-2 2, Kylee Spray 3 3-4 10, Regan Unruh 4 1-2 10, Kaylie Doll 2 2-2 6, McKenna Mauler 0 0-2 0, Tarynn Stueder 4 3-3 12, Kalee Maneth 1 1-2 3, Morgan Harwood 1 0-2 2, Madison Unruh 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 13-20 58.
Monarchs 3 8 11 15 — 37
Panthers 14 15 18 11 — 58
Three-point goals — Great Bend 3 (Unruh, Stueder, Spray); TMP 4 (Ruder 4); Total fouls — Great Bend 20, TMP 15. Fouled out — None.
