How hot was Thomas More Prep Monarch Kayla Vitztum?
She was so hot, she tossed in a half-court shot like it was a layup at the end of the third quarter. Vitztum looked up at the basket because she couldn’t believe what she’d just accomplished.
The No. 2 state-ranked Class 3A Monarchs roared past the Panthers 65-36 in Tuesday’s non-league basketball game. The Monarchs shot 78 percent in the third quarter on 11 of 14 field goals to outscore the Panthers 27-10 for a 57-30 lead.
“That was really a great quarter,” said Monarch coach Rose McFarland. “We ran our offense better and got the basketball moving. We’re an unselfish basketball team.”
The loss will force Great Bend (10-7) to play its first Class 5A substate postseason game on the road.
Great Bend (10-7) limped home literally and figuratively. They might have lost standout starter Camryn Dunekack with a third-quarter knee injury that could end her season. Carley Brack has just recovered from an broken finger. Carly Dreiling dislocated a finger during the game.
Dreiling led the Panthers with nine points and Brack added eight points. But it was tough going offensively against a Monarch defense that forced 20 Panther turnovers.
Brack scored seven first-half points as the Panthers trailed 30-20 at halftime.
“We came out so flat in the third quarter the past several games,” said Great Bend coach Carrie Minton. “We competed in the first half. We were right there with them. We didn’t take advantage starting the third quarter and the floodgates opened.”
Minton said she respects the way the Monarchs played solid team basketball.
“They are really fundamental and they shoot the ball really well,” she said. “They knocked down the open shots. We lost some people in transition. They got down the floor and we didn’t find them in transition the way we needed to.”
Vitztum was on fire with 21 points, drilling six consecutive field goals in the third quarter, capped by her half-court heave. Madyson Koerner (16) and Megan Koenigsman (12) scored in double figures. The Monarchs never let the ball stick, moving the basketball flawlessly from outside-to-inside.
“It’s a different girl every night for us,” McFarland said. “Our defense was better the second half.”
The Monarchs (16-1) have won 14 consecutive games after finishing third in Class 3A last year. They ran the fast break to perfection and converted several turnovers into easy transition baskets.

TMP 16 14 27 8 – 65
GB 13 7 10 6 – 36
TMP—Megan Koenigsman 5-10 1-2 12; Sara Schippers 2-5 0-0 5; Wellbrock 2-5 0-0 5; Koerner 7-15 1-2 16; Zimmerman 2-4 0-0 4; Vitztum 7-11 6-9 21; Lacy 0-3 0-0 0; Aubrey Koenigsman 0-2 0-0; Schulte 0-1 0-0 0; Gottschalk 1-1 0-0 2, Totals 26-57 8-13 65.
GB—Carley Brack 3-10 2-6 8; Camryn Dunekack 1-10 1-2 3; Carly Dreiling 3-6 3-5 9; Brooklyn Burkhart 2-2 0-0 4; Annie Mills 1-2 0-0 2; Shailey Clark 1-2 0-0 2; Alyssa Keller 1-1 0-0 2; Allison Neeland 0-2 0-0 0; Totals 15-40 6-11 36.
3-point goals—TMP 5-11 (Vitztum 1-1, S. Schippers 1-1, M. Koenigsman -3, Wellbrock 1-2, Koerner 1-3, A. Koenigsman 0-1), GB 0-5 (Brack 0-1, Dunekack 0-3, Neeland 0-1)