Hays City Shoot-Out
Championship Game
Saturday’s Game
Kearney, Neb., 58
Great Bend 36
GREAT BEND (2-1)
Jace Bowman 2 0-0 5, Greg Hildebrand 3 1-4 8, Cameron Casey 1 2-2 4, Jeff Pike 0 0-0 0, Will Gray 2 2-2 7, Dakota Ellis 0 2-2 2, Ethan Henderson 0 2-2 2, Roderick Frise 4 2-3 10, Nick Warren 0 0-0 0, Wyatt Bayless 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 9-13 36.
KEARNEY (3-0)
Logan Wurtz 4 1-1 11, Andrew Limbach 0 1-4 1, Nate Stevens 3 2-2 8, Jake Sheldon 1 0-0 3, Zach Maloley 0 0-0 0, Derek Schriner 1 0-0 3, Tyler Shields 7 1-1 17, Zane Bebb 1 1-1 3, TJ Jacobsen 3 6-9 12. Totals 20 12-18 58.
Great Bend 9 8 8 11 — 36
Kearney 14 16 11 17 — 58
Three-point goals — Kearney 6 (Wurtz 2, Shields 2, Sheldon 1, Shriner 1); Great Bend 3 (Bowman 1, Hildebrand 1, Gray 1).
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Hays City Shoot-Out
At Hays
Friday’s game
BOYS
Semifinals
Great Bend 35, Newton 29
NEWTON (1-1)
Jenson Kingsley 1 0-0 3, Shelby Grosch 1 0-0 3, Kaven Denno 2 4-4 10, Kyle Preston 2 3-4 7, Austin Vermillion 0 0-0 0, Matt Lawrence 0 0-0 0, Alex Dorrell 2 0-0 4, Jon Alexander 1 0-0 2. Totals 9 7-8 29.
GREAT BEND (2-0)
Connor Sell 0 0-0 0, Jace Bowman 3 2-2 9, Sam Hafner 0 0-0 0, Greg Hildebrand 0 0-0 0, Cameron Casey 1 0-1 3, Jeff Pike 1 0-0 3, Will Gray 0 6-8 6, Dakota Ellis 5 0-1 10, Roderick Frise 1 0-0 2, Nick Warren 1 0-0 2, Wyatt Bayless 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 8-12 35.
Newton 9 7 3 10 — 29
Great Bend 5 10 8 12 — 35
Three-point goals — Newton 4 (Denno 2, Kingsley 1, Grosch 1); Great Bend 3 (Pike 1, Casey Bowman).
HAYS — The speed of the basketball game increased drastically from the previous two nights for the Great Bend High School Panthers.
After all, this was the championship game of the Hays City Shoot-Out. The tall order the Panthers faced was trying to neutralize a Kearney, Neb., team featuring 6-foot-4 senior swingman Tyler Shields and 6-9 TJ Jacobson.
The Panthers were only partly successful, holding the much-taller post player to only three field goals and 12 points.
But Shields scored a game-high 17 points and set the tone for a difficult night for the Panthers by knocking down a pair of 3-pointers out of the gate.
In the opening five minutes, Kearney knocked down four 3-pointers, bolted to a 14-7 lead and rolled past the Panthers 58-36 to capture its record sixth shoot-out championship.
“They’re a good team,” Great Bend head coach Chris Battin said of the Kearney. “They shoot it well and can do it inside and out.
“We played hard tonight and I was happy with our effort. Shields is a really good player, probably one of the best players we’ll see all season. He was definitely deserving of being named the shoot-out MVP.”
Great Bend (2-1) was led by Roderick Frise, who held his own despite giving up five inches to Jacobs. The 6-4 junior southpaw scored a team-high 10 points.
Greg Hildebrand and Will Gray, both of whom were also named to the all-tournament team, added eight and seven points for the Panthers, respectively.
After relatively easy wins over underachieving teams Colby and Newton in the first two rounds, the Panthers increased their tempo, but found the play of Shields and Kearney’s size advantage too much to overcome.
After Kearney seized a 30-17 halftime lead, GBHS could get no closer than 11 points after the break.
“I think we played better (Saturday night),” said Gray, the Panthers’ point guard. “Our defensive intensity was there.
“(Kearney) shot the ball well. We just traded basket.”
Logan Wurtz added 11 points for the Kearney, joining Shields and Jacobsen on the all-tournament team.
Semifinals
Great Bend 35,
Newton 29
In a slowdown semifinal game at Hays High, small forward Dakota Ellis and point guard Will Gray stepped up for the Panthers to advance to the title game.
Ellis came off the bench to score a team-high 10 points, Gray converted 5 of 6 free throws in the final 47.5 seconds to keep the cold-shooting Railers from pulling an upset.
“I’m proud of the way we stepped up,” Great Bend head coach Chris Battin said, “and that’s what you want from your point guard.”
Newton sat back in a 1-3-1 zone defense throughout, which put the Panthers and their motion offense in check.
But Gray was able keep the offense running smoothly, and Ellis stepped up with some big baskets running the baseline.
