EMPORIA – The third time was not the charm for the girls basketball team despite a miraculous finish to force overtime.

The Panthers’ overtime heartbreak continued with a hard-fought 63-59 setback to Shawnee Mission North in Saturday’s seventh-place game at the Glacier’s Edge Tournament. It marked the third overtime loss for the Panthers after previously losing to Hays High and Emporia.

Camryn Dunekack forced overtime with a rebound basket off an intentional free throw miss with two seconds left in regulation by teammate Annie Mills for a 55-55 tie. Dunekack scored a career high 27 points, 17 in the second half.

“It was exciting,” said coach Carrie Minton. “It was a great rebound and putback by Camryn.”

But the Panthers collapsed in the extra period with four turnovers.

“We opened up overtime with two turnovers. We got ahead of ourselves,” Minton said.

Dunekack converted four throws, but missed a tying shot to force a second overtime.

“We had a good look at the end of overtime and it didn’t fall,” said Minton. “The girls worked really hard for three days. It’s hard for the girls to see those things. We had opportunities in every game to pull down the victory.”

Dunekack and Carley Brack combined for 15 fourth-quarter points to spark the Panthers’ rally. Brack also dished out sal assists for Dunekack. Sydney Unruh scored a career high 13 points and Brack added 12 points.

All the hard work came up shy against despite a hard-fought effort.

“The girls came out and played really hard,” Minton said. “We came out shooting the ball really well. It was unfortunate we lost.”

The Indians 3-10 were paced by shar-shooting Kylie Dunn with 23 points and five 3-pointers. Lele Love, an offensive rebounding force, contributed 18 points and six second-chance points. The Indians closed the third quarter with six second-chance points.

The Panthers 3-9 face the state’s toughest schedule against 6A runner-up Derby featuring 6-5 Division 1 recruit Kennedy Brown, state-ranked 5A Liberal 11-1 and state-ranked 4A powerhouse McPherson keyed by Oklahoma signee Taylor Robertson.

Great Bend 20 9 7 19 4 – 59

SM North 14 13 13 15 8 – 63

 3-9—Dunekack 8-19 9-11 27, Sydney Unruh 3-6 6-8 13, Brack 2-11 8-12 12, Mills 1-1 2-4 5, Herter 1-2 0-0 2, Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Mauler 0-5 0-0 0, Totals 15-45 25-35 59.

SM NORTH 3-10—Dunn 6-12 6-10 23, Lele Love 7-16 4-10 18, Tiana Lee 2-9 1-7 6, Williams 1-3 4-4 7, Koller 2-2 0-0 4, Dowd 0-1 0-0 0, Redick 1-6 2-4 4, Totals 19-49 17-35 63.

EMPORIA TOURNAMENT

SATURDAY

1st—Olathe East 56,  Emporia 25

3rd—Wichita SE 42, Hutchinson 39

7th—SM North 63, Great Bend 59 (OT)

5th—Blue Valley SW 57, Shawnee Hts. 38 

FRIDAY—Semifinals—Olathe East 58, Wichita Southeast 49; Emporia 40, Hutchinson 36; Consolation—Shawnee Heights 47, Great Bend 43; Blue Valley SW 57, SM North 34

THURSDAY—Olathe East 59, SM North 22; Wichita Southeast 46, Blue Valley SW 45; Hutchinson 51, Shawnee Heights 20; Emporia 41, Great Bend 37 (2 OT)