BY MACK McCLURE
mmcclure@gbtribune.com

EL DORADO — Gardner-Edgerton High School standout Bubba Starling had a quiet first half on Thursday night against Great Bend in an opening-round game of the Bluestem Classic.
The Panthers limited Starling, a high-scoring 6-foot-5 senior forward, to just eight first-half points, including two during the opening eight minutes, as they led 12-11 after one quarter.
Gardner-Edgerton, which opened up a 24-19 halftime lead after outscoring the Panthers 13-7 in the second quarter, picked up its pace in the second half with Starling leading the way. Starling scored 16 of his game-high 24 points after halftime as the Trailblazers pulled away to a 61-52 victory over Great Bend.
“He’s a good player,” Great Bend head coach Chris Battin said of Starling. “He’s going to get his looks and he’s going to get his shots.
“He’s just tough to defend, and he elevates so high and we had a hard time defending him.”
With the loss, Great Bend (4-5) falls into the consolation bracket and will play Haysville-Campus (2-7) today at 4. Wichita Collegiate defeated Campus 63-47 on Thursday.
Great Bend, which committed 22 fouls for the game, compared to 15 for Gardner-Edgerton (5-4), put the  Blazers at the free-throw line 33 times, where they converted 25. Starling was 10-for-12 on free throws for the game while teammate Kyle Huppe, who scored all six of his points in the fourth quarter, also sank all four of his free throws.
“We played hard and defensively, we played well,” Battin said. “We fouled too much and that was the difference in the ballgame.
“They went 25-for-33 at the line and when you foul that much, you can’t expect to win when they’re hitting free throws like that.”
Battin was going up against his mentor, former Great Bend and current Gardner-Edgerton head coach Jeff Langrehr. Battin was an assistant for Langrehr when the Panthers won back-to-back Class 5A state championships in 2005 and 2006.
Great Bend, which made 9 of 13 foul shots, was led by senior guard Cameron Casey and senior swingman Greg Hildebrand with 12 points apiece.
Limiting Starling to only one basket through the first eight minutes, Great Bend assumed a 12-11 lead after one quarter.
Senior swingman Dakota Ellis scored the Panthers’ first five points, including a 3-pointer and a short-range basket. GBHS junior post player Roderick Frise scored their final five points of the period on a basket in the lane and a three-point play. Casey had Great Bend’s other basket during that stretch.
Great Bend led 18-16 midway through the second quarter after Jace Bowman’s jumper from the wing, but Starling got a breakaway windmill dunk off a turnover, sending the Blazers on a half-ending 8-1 run to give them their five-point edge at intermission.
Great Bend never led again, although it was able to close its deficit to the five- to seven-point range during the latter portion of the third quarter and on into the fourth.
Casey’s 3-pointer with 1:26 remaining in the third quarter cut the margin to 37-32 before the Blazers moved ahead 39-34 after three periods.
The Panthers carved their deficit down to six points on two occasions in the final quarter — 46-40 on Hildebrand’s three-point play with 3:24 left and 50-44 with 2:49 remaining on Bowman’s 3-pointer.
But Gardner-Edgerton converted 11 of 12 free throws in the final 1:36, including 5 of 6 from Starling, to salt away the win.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
At El Dorado
2011 Bluestem
Basketball Tournament

BOYS
Thursday
Gardner-Edgerton 61,
Great Bend 52
GARDNER-EDGERTON (5-4)
     Tommy Brady 1 0-0 2, Kyle Huppe 1 4-4 6, Bubba Starling 7 10-12 24, Dilon Dodson 2 2-2 7, Tanner Webb 1 2-2 5, Austin Gruber 0 0-0 0, Matt Plank 1 1-1 3, Zach Hickman 1 2-2 4, CJ Hall 2 0-0 4, Dan Mauszycki 1 4-10 6. Totals 17 25-33 61.
GREAT BEND (4-5)
     Jace Bowman 3 0-0 8, Greg Hildebrand 3 6-9 12, Cameron Casey 5 0-0 12, Jeff Pike 0 0-0 0, Will Gray 2 1-1 5 , Dakota Ellis 3 1-2 8, Roderick Frise 3 1-1 7, Nick Warren 0 0-0 0, Wyatt Bayless 0 0-0 0, Sam Hafner 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 9-13 52.
Gardner-Edg.     11    13   15    22    —    61
Great Bend         12     7    14    19    —    52
     Three-point goals —Great Bend 5 (Casey 2, Bowman 2, Ellis); Gardner-Edgerton 2 (Webb, Dodson). Total fouls — Great Bend 21, Gardner-Edgerton 15. Fouled out — Great Bend, Hildebrand, Ellis.