It was a standout moment in the Great Bend High School boys’ basketball team’s season.
With a 52-30 drumming of Larned on Tuesday night at the Panther Fieldhouse, Great Bend matched its win total from last season.
The Panthers, who finished 5-16 a year ago, improved to 5-7 on the season. Larned drops to 2-12.
“We get a chance to surpass last year,” GBHS head coach Chris Battin said. “It’s nice to get our fifth winand start to get things in the right path again.
“We’ve won four of our last six games, so we’re feeling pretty good about how we’re playing right now.”
A 24-8 third quarter secured the win for Great Bend, getting eight separate players to score in runs of 7-0 and 12-0.
“I felt like we made a better effort getting the ball inside,” Battin said of his team’s third-quarter explosion. “Our guys were attacking rebounds a lot better. When you get inside, you make easy plays, and that’s what we needed to happen.”
Chad Touslee and Gabe Joiner, who hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to cap the 12-0 run that ended the third quarter, led the Panthers with nine points each.
Joiner finished with three 3-pointers in the game.
Great Bend’s zone defense held Larned to only three points in the first quarter — a Grant Unruh 3-pointer.
“They’ve got some really good shooters,” Battin said of Larned. “Sometimes the zone bothers good shooters because you don’t have to run as far on them. They run some really good man stuff, so it was very beneficial for us to be in zone tonight.”
The Panthers went ahead 5-0 before Unruh’s 3 with a three-point play from Touslee and a basket from Brock Ibarra.
Great Bend continued to widen its lead with a 9-0 run to close out the first quarter ahead 14-3, getting a layup from Josh Lutz and a trey from Joiner before both Trey Ibarra and Bryce Beck hit a pair of free throws apiece.
The Panthers were a spotless 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
The Indians, who were led by Brayden Smith’s and Easton Palmer’s six points apiece, only attempted one shot within the arc in the first eight minutes, but got more aggressive in the second as they trailed 22-12 heading into intermission.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Non-Conference

BOYS

Tuesday

At Great Bend
Panther Fieldhouse

Great Bend 52, Larned 30
LARNED (2-12)
    Brayden Smith 2 0-0 6, Grant Unruh 2 0-0 5, Jake Zimmerman 0 0-0 0, Tyler Stelter 2 0-0 5, Isiah Perez 1 0-0 3, Easton Palmer 2 0-0 6, Michael Reece 1 0-0 2, Nolan Allison 0 0-0 0, Camryn Bryant 0 3-4 3. Totals 10 3-4 30.
GREAT BEND (5-7)
    Matt Marshall 1 0-0 2, Chad Touslee 4 1-1 9, Brock Ibarra 2 0-0 5, Bryce Beck 2 3-3 7, Gabe Joiner 3 0-0 9, Wyatt Bayless 4 0-0 8, Josh Lutz 2 0-0 4, Trey Ibarra 2 2-2 6, Jayce Brack 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 6-6 52.
Larned            3    9    8    10  —  30
Great Bend    14   8   24    6   —  52
    Three-point goals — Larned 7 (Smith 2, Palmer 2, Unruh, Stelter, Perez); Great Bend 4 (Joiner 3, B. Ibarra). Total fouls — Larned 8, Great Bend 4. Fouled out — None.