BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com

At 5-foot-3, Great Bend's Meredith Mazouch creates havoc with her speed and defensive intensity. Mazouch disrupted Emporia's offense with five steals in the Panthers' 31-21 non-league basketball victory over the Spartans Tuesday.

"I try to frustrate people and get them upset," Mazouch said. "My goal is to get deflections. I'm quick enough to beat them to their spot."

Emporia (0-5) converted 4 of 27 shots (15%) after a 9-point first quarter. The Spartans made 1 of 12 3-pointers and finished with 21 turnovers. 

"Meredith is our defensive gnat," said Great Bend coach Jade Winter. "She gets deflections with her speed."

The Panthers were effective in their 1-3-1 zone defense, creating pressure on Emporia's outside shooters while 5-11 Cassie Ellegood helped protected the paint. Emporia's offense is perimeter oriented.

"With 4 players out, Emporia is always swinging the basketball," Winter said. "The girls did a nice job getting in the passing lanes. What I liked is we did a good job contesting their 3-pointers."

Great Bend's Alyssa McCauley converted a pair of second-half 3-pointers and scored 10 points. Alex Mayers made a 3-pointer off Meredith's Mazouch's assist. DeShawnna Bryant added a late-game 3-pointer. 

The Panthers made four consecutive 3-pointers to start the second half for a 25-17 lead. The Panthers scored eight 2-pointers for 13 of 41 shooting (32%). Great Bend outscored the Spartans 12-4 in the fourth quarter.

"Our 3s were big. The girls and the crowd got going," Winter said. "It was nice to get our perimeter shooting going."

Emporia's Maycee Davis scored 11 points. 

Both offenses struggled as the teams combined for 41 turnovers and 26% shooting.

The Panthers (3-2) travel to Pratt Friday.    

Emporia 9 3 5 4 — 21

Great Bend 6 7 6 12 — 31

EMPORIA (0-5) (FG 3 FT TP)—Davis 5-13 (0-1) 1-4 11; Aguirre 2-7 (1-3) 0-0 5; Heffner 1-7 3-4 5; Hower 0-4 (0-3) 0-0 0; B'Hymer 0-3 (0-1) 0-2 0; Farrell (0-1) 0-0 0; Cunningham 0-3 (0-2) 0-0 0; Loveall (0-1) 0-0 0; Totals 8-39 (1-12) 4-10 21

GREAT BEND (3-2) (FG 3 FT TP)—McCauley 4-15 (2-8) 0-0 10; Harbaugh 4-5 0-0 8; Bryant 2-8 (1-1) 0-0 5; Mayers (1-1) 0-0 3; Meredith Mazouch 1-8 0-2 2; Ellegood 1-2 0-0 2; Prendergast 0-0 1-2 1; Katherine Mazouch 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 13-41 (4-14) 1-4 31