BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
HAYS – No. 8 state-ranked Manhattan pulled away from Great Bend 46-32 in Saturday’s third-place game of the Gerald Mitchell Hays City Basketball Shootout.
Raeshon Riddick led the Indians (2-1) with 17 points and Nate Awbrey added 10 points. Manhattan converted 18 of 49 field goals.
Ty Esfeld led the Panthers (1-2) with nine points. Sam Ryan added eight points. The Panthers made 9 of 32 field goals and committed 12 turnovers, four of them on offensive charging calls.
For the second straight game, a poor stretch cost the Panthers. The Indians outscored the Panthers 14-2 in the second quarter as Great Bend made two free throws for a 24-11 halftime lead.
The Panthers converted 5 of 21 free throws to cost themselves a chance to play the Indians much closer. The missed free throws were the critical factor in the ballgame.
Great Bend coach Tim Brooks said the Panthers did a nice job working their offense to reach the foul line.
‘’We had some really good looks that we didn’t knock down,” said Brooks. “We missed front ends of one-and-ones and that really hurt us. It was contagious. We were right there most of the time. It would’ve been played differently had we made free throws.”
Brooks said the third game in three days showed the Panthers’ strength of playing multiple players.
“We played much better Saturday than yesterday,” he said. “There is nobody we have that other teams need to shut down. We have good balance on offense and everybody works on defense. We battled defensively and held them to 46 points. I couldn’t be happier with that. Hats off to our kids for that.”
The Panthers are idle until Dec. 8 when they travel to Junction City.
GB 9 2 7 14 – 32
MHS 10 14 12 10 – 46
GREAT BEND—Esfeld 4 1-5 9, Ryan 2 1-4 7, Wondra 0 0-2 0, Blessing 0 0-3 0, Brack 3 0-0 8, Penka 1-5 0-0 2, Schmeidler 0 3-6 3, Ortiz 1 0-0 3, Totals 11 5-21 32.
MANHATTAN—Riddick 7 3-4 17, Awbrey 4 2-5 10, Wiggins 2 0-1 5, Ostermann 1 2-2 5, Marks 1 0-0 2, Monaco 1 0-1 3, Munsen 1 0-1 2, Hoover 1 0-0 2, Totals 18 7-14 46.
HAYS CITY SHOOTOUT FINALS
1ST—Olathe North 68, St. Thomas Aquinas 55
3RD—Manhattan 46, Great Bend 32
4TH—Hays High 64, William Chrisman, Mo. 62
7TH—Hays-Thomas More Prep 94, Wichita Life Prep 48
HAYS CITY SHOOTOUT SECOND ROUND
Olathe North 71, Great Bend 37
St. Thomas Aquinas 55, Manhattan 33
Hays High 82, Wichita Life Prep 54
William Chrisman 58, Hays-TMP 50
HAYS CITY SHOOTOUT FIRST ROUND
Olathe North 93, Hays High 76
Great Bend 74, Wichita Life Prep 46
St. Thomas Aquinas 65, Hays-TMP 38
Manhattan 68, William Chrisman 55
