BY JIM MISUNAS
The Great Bend girls stayed poised and kept battling for 32 minutes.
The Panthers made the Western Athletic Conference champions from Dodge City earn everything in a 56-28 basketball victory Friday.
Great Bend kept within range of the Demons in a well-paced first half, trailing 25-14. Sydney Unruh scored seven first-half points and the Panthers committed five turnovers with a patient offense that handled the Red Demons’ pressure. Camree Johnson paced Dodge City with 10 points.
Becca Unruh, Kisa Unruh and Camree Johnson knocked down 3-pointers in a 21-point third period. Dodge City’s athleticism and strength forced 12 second-half turnovers that led to a 16-6 edge in points off turnovers.
“Dodge City is a good basketball team,” said Great Bend coach Cindy Beck. “They’re a tough team to guard because they can shoot the basketball. They made one outside shot that first half. We made them earn their baskets. They started knocking down some 3-pointers.”
Beck was pleased the Panthers kept battling and prevented the Demons from extending the lead to 30 points, which would’ve translated into a running clock.
Unruh faced a wave of Red Demon defenders and finished with nine points. Sadie Spray contributed nine points. Candice Smith hustled inside for six rebounds. Halle Latham contributed three assists. Spray scored on a backdoor pass and fed Emilee Hall for a nifty basket for two of the best plays.
“We did a lot of things better than the first time. We took care of the ball,” Beck said. “We came back and got some looks we wanted. We ran a play for Sydney Unruh and her 3-pointer pulled around the rim and fell out.”
Great Bend (6-10, 0-6) maintain the third spot in the Salina 5A substate, which would guarantee the Panthers a trip to Salina South.
Johnson scored 15 points and Lauren Gleason added 11 points. Dodge City (16-1, 6-0 WAC) outscored the Panthers 14-3 on second-chance points.
Dodge City 17 8 21 10 – 56
Great Bend 7 7 10 4 – 28
DODGE CITY (16-1, 6-0)—Johnson 7-13 0-1 15, Gleason 4-6 2-4 11, Becca Unruh 3-7 0-2 7, Gutierrez 0-1 1-4 1, Kisa Unruh 3-9 0-0 7, Clark 0-2 1-2 1, Gonzalez 1-2 0-0 2, Perez 2-7 0-0 4, Foster 0-0 2-2 2, Solis 3-4 0-0 6, Totals 23-51 6-15 56
GREAT BEND (6-10, 0-6)—Unruh 4-11 0-0 9, Sadie Spray 3-6 2-2 9, Hannah Loomis 0-1 0-0 0, Warren 0-1 0-2 0, Harbaugh 0-3 2-2 2, Latham 1-3 1-2 4, Kaiser 1-7 0-0 2, Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Hall 1-2 0-0 2, Totals 10-36 5-8 28
3-pointers—DC 4-18 (Gleason 1-2, Becca Unruh 1-4, Johnson 1-4, Kisa Unruh 1-5, Solis 0-1, Perez 0-2); GB 3-14 (Latham 1-2, Spray 1-2, Unruh 1-6, Latham 0-2, Kaiser 0-2).
Rebounds—DC 24 (Solis 5); GB 23 (Smith 6). Assists—DC 20 (Gleason 5), GB 8 (Latham 3). Steals—DC 7 (Johnson 2, Gleason 2), GB 4. TO—DC 9, GB 17
