BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com

KINGMAN — Great Bend's boys delivered an epic comeback for a 47-47 tie against Sterling in Thursday's Kingman Basketball Classic. The Panthers missed two chances for a victory in regulation before 2A Sterling outlasted 5A Great Bend 56-50 in an overtime heartbreaker.

The Panthers outscored Sterling 14-7 in the final five minutes for a 47-47 tie. Jacob Hall drilled a pair of clutch 3-pointers and Cayden Scheuerman and Ian Premer converted 3-pointers for a 47-45 score. Carter Coombs made a 15-foot jumper for a 47-47 tie. 

When Sterling's Isaac Briar missed a pair of free throws, the Panthers had a chance to steal a victory over trailing for 31 minutes. Premer missed a baseline jumper and Coombs lost his balance attempting a final attempt.

Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh smartly swung the momentum with full-court and half-court trapping defense that forced several Sterling turnovers in the final minutes of regulation. Defensive specialist Tyler Stuhlsatz keyed the defense by drawing three charging fouls. Ian Premer forced back-to-back takeaways in overtime with hustling defensive plays.

"It was time to shake things up. We did some full-court and half-court trap. Our guys hung in there and took it to overtime," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh. "Sterling is a well-coached basketball team that played well."

Sterling's Colby Beagley converted back-to-back 2-pointers and the Black Bears made five free throws in the extra period. Coombs made a 3-pointer for the Panthers' lone three points. The Panthers converted 7 of 32 3-pointers, amazing since they made four consecutive 3-pointers in the fourth period.

Hall (11) led Great Bend and Scheuerman, Maddox Spray, Premer and Coombs each tallied seven points. Sterling's inside force Gabe Riffel muscled for 15 points and numerous rebounds. Blake Smith scored 11 points and Beagley added nine points.

The Panthers had trouble matching up with the muscular Riffel.

"Sterling does a good job sealing your defense inside," Kriegh said. "We've got to do a tougher job on the boards."

Sterling (3-0) will meet Haven (3-0) in Saturday's championship game. Great Bend (0-2) meets Conway Springs at 4:30 p.m. Friday with the winner playing Kingman for third place.

STERLING 56, GREAT BEND 50

Sterling 13 8 15 11 9 — 56

Great Bend 7 9 17 14 3 — 50

STERLING (3-0)—Gray 3-5 1-2 7, Briar 2-7 2-4 8, Beagley 3-9 2-5 9, Smith 4-11 2-2 11, Wilson 0-2 2-3 2, Ekart 1-1 2-2 4, Riffel 7-13 1-4 15, Totals 20-48 12-22 56

GREAT BEND (0-2)—Stuhlsatz 2-7 1-2 5, Scheuermer 3-8 0-2 7, Spray 2-4 2-3 7, Council 2-9 0-0 6, Dicks 0-2 0-0 0, Premer 3-9 0-0 7, Hall 4-11 1-1 11, Coombs 3-14 0-0 7, Reed 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 19-65 4-8 50

3-pointers—S 4-14 (Briar 2-6, Beagley 1-4, Smith 1-4); GB 7-32 (Council 2-8, Spray 1-1, Hall 1-3, Scheuerman 1-3,  Premer 1-3, Coombs 1-11, Stuhlsatz 0-1, Dicks 0-2)

KINGMAN — Once Great Bend's girls turned up the defensive pressure, Sterling had no answers. The Panthers outscored 2-time state champion Sterling 24-2 in the third quarter en route to a 54-21 victory in Thursday's Kingman Basketball Classic.

Time-after-time, the Panthers used their quickness to convert Sterling turnovers into transition points. Sadie Spray led the Panthers with 16 points and her typical defensive excellence. Emilee Hall scored 10 points and Makenzie Premer added eight points.

"At halftime, I told the girls our first four minutes of the second half were a big key. We wanted to show pressure and take over the game," said Great Bend coach Cindy Beck. "The girls did an awesome job defensively and took care of the basketball. We did the work tonight."

Great Bend (2-0) must beat Conway Springs at 3 p.m. Friday to qualify for a championship showdown with 3A Haven.

Great Bend opened with sharp offensive play for a 15-5 lead after one quarter. Spray scored seven first-quarter points and Kara Feist chipped in five points. Sterling committed 15 first-half turnovers.

Sterling closed within 23-15 right before halftime when Spray scored a basket. In the third quarter, Hall scored eight points and Premer tallied six points off excellent transition plays. Great Bend showed off a nice mix of inside and outside offense. The Panthers grabbed 17 offensive rebounds.

"When you're playing three games in three days, you want to same some legs and get your other players into the varsity game," Beck said. "We did a nice job keeping everyone well rested."

Sterling's Olsen scored six points. The Black Bears (0-3) converted 3-of-13 3-pointers.

GREAT BEND 54, STERLING 21

Sterling 5 10 2 4 — 21

Great Bend 15 10 24 5 — 54

STERLING (0-3)—Rowland 1-5 0-0 3, Olsen 2-9 0-0 6, Webb 0-1 1-4 1, Conrad 1-5 0-0 2, Ravenstein 1-3 0-0 2, Brownlee 1-1 0-0 2, Linden 0-1 4-4 4, Totals 21

GREAT BEND (2-0)—Ellegood 2-7 0-0 4, Thexton 1-3 0-0 2, Spray 7-14 2-4 16, Reimer 1-4 0-0 3, Kara Feist 2-12 1-1 6, Hall 5-10 0-1 10, Premer 4-8 0-0 8, Nicholson 1-4 0-0 3,  Jones 0-2 0-0 0, Mayers 1-1 0-0 2,  Totals 24-55 3-6 54

3-pointers—S 3-13 (Olsen 2-7, Rowland 1-4, Linden 0-1, Ravenstein 0-1; GB 3-9 (Reimer 1-1, Nicholson 1-2, Kara Feist 1-5, Thexton 0-1)

ELLINWOOD, FAIRFIELD

LANGDON — in Thursday's Falcon Basketball Classic.

Ellinwood —

Fairfield —

ELLINWOOD (3-0)—Dutton, Scheck, Behnke, Brack, Cooper Hosman, Moore, Simpson, Gibson, Miller, Heinz, Coleman, Steffan, Totals

FAIRFIELD (1-2)—

3-pointers—

ELLINWOOD GIRLS, FAIRFIELD

LANGDON — in Thursday's Falcon Basketball Classic.

Ellinwood —

Fairfield —

ELLINWOOD (2-0)—Simpson, Baker, Shinliver, Sturtz, Winget, Keith, Ricker, Bowman, Totals

FAIRFIELD (1-1)—

3-pointers—E (Simpson, Baker); F ()

LARNED, ST. JOHN

LARNED —

St. John —

Larned —

ST. JOHN (0-2)—Smith, Adame, Marco Ibarra, Angel Ibarra, Reyes, Juan Ibarra, Totals

LARNED (0-2)—Reynolds, Fitzpatrick, Shaver, Jayden Smith, Ty Smith, Colglazier, Lemuz, Crosby, Totals

3-pointers—SJ (Smith); L ()

SPEARVILLE GIRLS, LARNED

LARNED —

Spearville —

Larned —

SPEARVILLE (1-1)—Offerle, Kliesen, Huston, Pedigo, Kuker, Hubbell, Ackerman, Totals

LARNED (0-2)—Lemuz, Holt, Pinkston, Herrera, Meyer, Makenzie Reinert, Collins, Totals

3-pointers—

MACKSVILLE GIRLS, KINSLEY

LARNED —

Kinsley  —

Macksville  —

KINSLEY (0-3)—Habiger, Arensman, Holguin, Totals

MACKSVILLE (2-1)—Russell, Galan, Garcia, Adams, Butler, Totals

3-pointers—M (Russell)

CENTRAL PLAINS GIRLS, BELOIT SJ

RUSSELL —

Beloit SJ  —

Central Plains  — 

BELOIT SJ (2-0)—

CENTRAL PLAINS (1-1)—Hammeke, Soeken, Metro, McGuire, Grace Lamatsch, Ogle, Donecker, Oeser, Totals

3-pointers—BSJ (), CP (Hammeke, Soeken, Metro)

RUSSELL, CENTRAL PLAINS

RUSSELL —

Central Plains  — 

Russell  —

CENTRAL PLAINS (2-0)—Totals

RUSSELL (2-0)—Peyton Ryan, Stratmann, Hekele, Klima, Grubb, Totals

3-pointers—R (), CP (Ryan)