GARDEN CITY — Things started off well for the Great Bend High School boys’ basketball team.
The Panthers were firing on all cylinders and held a 12-8 lead heading into the second half against Western Athletic Conference foe Garden City.
The Buffaloes were able to turn things around, finishing off Great Bend 53-43.
“I thought the kids played much better,” GBHS head coach Chris Battin said. “They worked extremely hard, we just got overmatched. They had couple of runs that was the difference in the game.”
Dillon Reiser was a large part of Great Bend’s offense success early, scoring eight of his team-high 12 points in the first quarter.
Things turned around when Garden City’s Caleb Tramp broke loose.
“They had a 10-0 run in the first half, and an 8-0 run in the second half,” Battin said. “Caleb Tramp really was the difference maker for them.”
Tramp had 15 points in the game, including eight in the second quarter to give the Buffaloes a 25-19 lead at halftime.
Great Bend’s Kody Crosby finished with nine points.
Bryce Beck went 6-for-8 from the free-throw line on his way to adding eight points, and Nick Warren scored seven points.
Great Bend travels to Hays on Tuesday night.

GIRLS
Great Bend 48, Garden City 42
GARDEN CITY — Trailing by seven heading into the final quarter, Great Bend’s girls’ basketball team turned up the heat against Garden City.
The Lady Panthers pulled ahead in the final eight minutes to win the WAC game.
“We were down heading into the fourth quarter,” GBHS head coach Carrie Minton said. “At about the seven-minute mark, we had four straight possessions where we turned it up on defense.
“We got a few turnovers and scored points off those turnovers to get us close.”
The game had many momentum changes, but the Lady Panthers took ahold of the game in the end.
“It was a pretty back-and-forth game,” Minton said. “They like to play fast as well, so it was a pretty fast tempo game, and the girls played well all four quarters. We were really aggressive on offense, and kept the pressure on them on defense.”
The Lady Panthers travel to Hays on Tuesday evening.