BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
LARNED — Ian Premer ignited the highlights with a trio of dunks and Izeah Reed enjoyed a career high 15 points in Great Bend's dominating 83-24 rout against Larned in Tuesday's non-league basketball showdown.
The Panthers featured a trapping half-court zone defense that gave Larned fits without their top two ballhandling guards Carson Shaver and Talon Reynolds. The Panthers used their quickness and athleticism to perfection to convert turnovers into easy scores.
Great Bend (4-1) was off to the races with a 26-5 lead off 12-of-18 first-quarter shooting. Premer got the Panther fans rocking with his first slam dunk. He doubled, then tripled his fun with back-to-back steals and dunks for a 39-7 lead. By halftime, it was 52-11.
The game-long intensity was exactly what Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh wanted with stiffer competition ahead with Emporia, Hutchinson and the Western Athletic Conference schedule.
"We played hard and tough, which is good to see," Kriegh said. "We've got to be prepared for much tougher competition down the road. We want to grow as a basketball team. I liked how we shared the basketball. The guys are good as long as a Panther is scoring."
The perfectly balanced Panthers also featured Premer (13), Parker Dicks (12), Maddox Spray (10) and super-sub Ben Nicholson (10) in double figures.
Outside of Premer's flashy dunks, Reed stole the show as a perfect understudy off the bench.
The poised Reed, always under perfect control, knocked down seven shots with a mix of inside and mid-range shots.
"Izeah was awesome, a super positive guy who deserves it," Kriegh said. "He's good inside and with his jumper. He had guys off the bench contributing."
Larned coach Luke Steinlage was impressed by how well the Panthers performed in all areas.
"Great Bend is really, really good and they have a lot of good young players," Steinlage said. "We can't simulate in practice what they do. It's going to be difficult for anyone to beat them."
Ty Smith and Carter Crosby each scored six points for Larned (1-4), which missed its best ballhandlers.
"It hurt us that we were missing two starters to illness because they are our best ballhandlers," Steinlage said. "We missed easy shots to start the game and it just steamrolled out of control. Our effort was good throughout the game, but Great Bend was good."
Great Bend 26 26 18 13 — 83
Larned 5 6 9 4 — 24
GREAT BEND (4-1)—Reed 7-8 1-1 15, Premer 6-9 0-0 13, Dicks 5-9 0-0 12, Nicholson 3-8 3-3 10, Spray 5-13 0-0 10, Ohnmacht 4-6 0-0 8, Minton 2-2 0-2 5, Hall 1-2 0-0 2, Combs 1-4 1-3 3, Kerss 1-1 0-0 2, Stroup 0-1 0-0 0, Ribordy 1-1 0-0 3, Totals 36-64 5-9 83.
LARNED (1-4)—Smith 2-7 2-5 6, Crosby 3-7 0-0 6, Martinez 1-4 0-0 2, Martin 1-2 2-2 4, Regan 1-7 0-0 2, Colglazier 0-6 2-2 2, Krehbiel 1-3 0-0 2, Pinkston 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 9-36 6-9 24.
3-pointers—GB 6-19 (Dicks 2-5, Minton 1-1, Ribordy 1-1, Premer 1-2, Nicholson 1-3, Coombs 0-3, Spray 0-4), L 0-9 (Martin 0-1, Regan 0-1, Colglazier 0-1, Pinkston 0-1, Martinez 0-1, Crosby 0-2, Krehbiel 0-2)
