HOISINGTON — The Great Bend High School girls’ basketball team weathered a third-quarter spurt by Hoisington to win 43-32 on Tuesday night at the Hoisington Activities Center.
The Lady Panthers jumped to an early lead on the back of a 10-0 run fueled by Lexie Brack, who drained a 3-pointer from the left side of the arc, then stole the ball on Hoisington’s next possession and finishing with a layup.
Cassidy Tutak began the run with two points at the 7:27 mark.
Down 10-2, the Lady Cardinals sprang back with a 6-0 run to close the first quarter, trailing 10-8.
In the second quarter, Tutak sprung to life, scoring nine points in a 14-3 run. Tutak finished with a game-high 18 points.
“I always felt like all along we were in the driver’s seat,” Great Bend head coach Jason Tatkenhorst said. “Also give credit to Hoisington. They kept battling and if we ever let off the pedal a little bit, they were going to take advantage. I felt our defense in the second quarter really got us our points.”
The Lady Panthers began applying full court pressure that trapped and confounded the Lady Cardinals offense, forcing a number of turnovers.
“You know, they put a lot of defensive pressure on us,” Hoisington head coach Mandy Mason said. “We were a little nervous. We didn’t have Jordin (Greer) tonight, so Belle (Brickley) was forced into a new role tonight.
“I thought she did extremely well. She kept her composure and she did a great job to settle down.”
With a minute remaining, the Lady Cardinals began to level out, although they trailed 24-11 at halftime
It wasn’t until the third quarter that the Lady Cardinals began to find success getting the ball inside to Mallory Flagor.
“We’re going to see that Friday at Hays and we’re going to see that in sub-state,” Tatkenhorst said of Hoisington’s success getting the ball to their post player. “That is one of our weaknesses, our opponents getting the ball inside and for the first half, we really did a good job stopping that.
“But then in the second half, not quite enough ball pressure. Again, give credit to Hoisington for executing the plays that most certainly, that is something we’ve got to improve on.”
Flagor finished the game with 12 points to lead the Lady Cardinals, scoring nine in the third quarter.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
At Hoisington
GIRLS
Great Bend 43, Hoisington 32
GREAT BEND
Brandi Schneider 0 2-2 2, Alexis Brack 3 0-1 9, Kelsey Crosby 1 1-2 3, Olivia Basye 0 0-0 0, Liz Kutina 0 0-0 0, Jennifer Allende 0 0-2 0, Taycee Bunn 1 0-2 3, Cassidy Tutak 6 6-11 18, Kalie LeShore 1 3-4 5, Jordan Haney 1 1-4 3. Totals 14 13-27 43.
HOISINGTON
BreAnna Burns 1 0-0 2, Savannah Rose 1 0-1 2, Brandy Wondra 0 0-0 0, Brittany Axman 2 2-3 6, Belle Brickley 1 4-4 6, Blakelee Cooper 2 0-0 4, Mallory Flagor 4 4-5 12. Totals 11 10-13 32.
Great Bend 10 14 10 9 — 43
Hoisington 8 3 14 7 — 32
Three-point goals — Great Bend 2 (Brack, Bunn); Hoisington (None).
