By JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtrribune.com
HAYS — The debut for Great Bend basketball coach Tim Brooks’ against his former team was perfect for better than a quarter at the Hays City Shootout.
State-ranked Class 6A Manhattan High School eventually delivered a dose of reality with a hard-fought 65-50 victory Thursday. The Panthers built an early 20-14 lead behind Kody Crobsy’s brilliant 22-point effort. Crosby nailed a 3-pointer to start three of the four quarters to spark the Panthers.
Brooks coached at Manhattan High for 10 seasons and led the Indians to a pair of Class 6A state tournaments.
The Indians started the game shooting two for 12 as the Panthers led 12-6 in th first period.
“We needed a good start like that,” Brooks said. “If we play hard and play tough, it gives us a chance. We shared the basketball extremely well, which is the sign of a good basketball team.”
The Indians’ pressure converted 21 Panther turnovers into easy transition baskets. The Indians closed the first half on a 17-3 run for a 31-23 halftime margin. Manhattan delivered the knockout blow with several brief runs fueled off Panther turnovers.
“They turned their pressure up and got a spark with our turnovers,” Brooks said. ‘We have up some big scoring runs in that third quarter.”
Brooks likes the fact the Panthers kept battling. Scrappy Konner Ireland chipped in 12 points and hard-working Logan Perry added seven points.
“Eventually, we ran some backdoor plays and took advantage of their pressure,” Brooks said. “We did a good attacking the basket in our halfcourt offense. We want to make more free throws than the other team shoots and we did that tonight.”
Centennial League Player of the Year Trevor Hudgins led the Indians with 15 points and all-league Tommy Ekart added 14 points. Eleven Indians scored points.
TMP 61, OLATHE NORTH 54 — Thomas More Prep rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit by outscoring Olathe North 34-17 after halftime. Hayden Lowe scored 18 points and Creighton Renz added 16 points. The Monarchs committed four second-half turnovers after 17 giveaways the first half.
HAYS HIGH 66, GARDEN CITY 58 — Hays High built a 15-point fourth-quarter lead (58-43) and held off Garden City’s rally. Hays High’s Claiborne Kyles scored 16 points and Ethan Nunnery and Shane Berens added 12 apiece. Kyles and Nunnery each made two free throws after the Buffaloes sliced the lead to 62-58. The Indians converted seven 3-pointers and 17 of 21 free throws. Garden City converted 11 3-pointers. Zac Karlin scored 15 points and Garret Doll added 13 points.
INDIANS 65, PANTHERS 50
GB 14 9 13 15 — 50
MHS 12 19 20 14 — 65
GREAT BEND—Kody Crosby 6-14 7-10 22; Konner Ireland 2-4 5-6 12; Logan Perry 3-4 1-2 7; Brayden Smith 2-3 1-2 5; Jacob Murray 0-3 2-3 2; Eric Woods 1-1 0-1 2; Koy Brack 0-4 0-0 0; Totals 14-33 16-24 50.
MANHATTAN—Trevor Hudgins 6-10 2-2 15; Tommy Ekart 3-8 6-6 14; Cade Roberts 4-7 0-0 8; Dawson Stewart 3-4 1-1 8; Luke Saville 2-6 0-0 4; Ian Trapp 2-3 0-0 4; Josh Haus 1-3 0-1 2; Nate Awbrey 2-3 0-1 4; Carson Marsh 1-1 0-0 2; John Osterman 1-1 0-0 2; Micah Wiggins 0-0 2-2 2; Total 25-46 12-14 65.
TMP 61, OLATHE NORTH 54
ON 21 16 9 8 — 54
TMP 10 17 15 19 — 61
ON—Kenny Byers 9 1-3 22; Tymer Jackson 2 4-6 8; Kaleb Walton 3 0-1 7; Lukas Milner 2 2-2 6; Shaun Freeman 2 0-0 5; Elijah Readman 1 0-0 2; Brandon Clark 1 0-1 2; Elijah Williams 1 0-0 2; 1 0-0 2; Totals 21 7-13 54.
TMP—Hayden Lowe 6 5-10 18; Creighton Renz 7 2-5 16; Luke Ruder 4 0-0 9; Chase Werth 3 1-4 7; David McFarland 1 2-2 5; Ryan Karlin 1 0-0 3; Trenton Mayo 1 0-0 2; Bruce Chiu 0 1-2 1; Totals 23 11-23 61.
HAYS 66, GARDEN CITY 58
GC 10 18 8 22 — 58
HH 1 1 1 1 — 66
GC—Zac Karlin 5 0-3 15; Garret Doll 4 5-8 13; Carlos Acosta 4 0-0 11; Tye Davis 4 0-0 10; Derrick Sexton 2 0-0 5; DeMarcus Elliott 1 0-0 2; Griff Brunson 0 2-2 2; Totals 20 7-13 58.
HH—Claiborne Kyles 5 6-8 16; Ethan Nunnery 3 4-5 12; Shane Berens 4 3-3 12; Tyrese Hill 3 2-2 8; Xander Swayne 2 1-2 6; Collyn Kreutzer 2 1-1 6; Tradgon McCrae 2 0-0 6; Totals 21 17-21 66.
HAYS CITY SHOOTOUT, BOYS
HHS (Hays High School); HMS (Hays Middle School)
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Manhattan 65, Great Bend 50
Hays-Thomas More Prep 61, Olathe North 54
Hays High 66, Garden City 58
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Manhattan 60, Garden City 42
Olathe North 48, Great Bend 40
Hays High 67, TMP 48
SATURDAY’s GAMES
Game 7—4th Place—Great Bend vs. Garden City, HMS, 11:45 a.m.
Game 8—3rd Place—TMP vs. Olathe North, HHS, 1:30
Game 9—Championship—Hays High vs. Manhattan, HHS, 5 p.m.
