BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
KINGMAN — Great Bend's defensive intensity kicks up a notch when sparkplug Daxton Minton enters the ballgame.
Minton was his vintage defensive pest with four steals, and his career high 17-point outing tied Panther standout Ian Premer for game-high honors in a 69-22 rout over Clearwater in Thursday's Kingman Basketball Classic. Minton scored nine first-quarter points to ignite a 22-0 scoring run to start Thursday's ballgame.
"Dax is a stud, who's coachable," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh. "He's a coach's son, who's does what the coach wants. He brings that energy every day."
The Panthers' trapping defense keyed by 6-6 Premer, 6-6 Ben Nicholson and Cooper Ohnmacht overwhelmed Clearwater's ballhandlers. Premer scored eight first-quarter points, including a slam dunk. Great Bend's length and athleticism challenged Clearwater's shooters and pressured the Indians' ballhandlers into turnovers.
"We wanted to play high-quality basketball no matter who was on the court," Kriegh said.
Nicholson scored 11 points and Ohnmacht chipped in nine points. The Panthers converted 30 of 59 field goals, 3 of 15 on 3-pointers (20%).
Clearwater's Mason Smith scored five points. converted 8 of 41 field goals, 19%
The Panthers (3-0) will likely play Haven (2-0) in Saturday's championship game unless Kingman pulls off a shocking upset Friday night. Haven would play three games in three days while the Panthers will play every other day this week.
Clearwater 2 9 4 7 — 22
Great Bend 22 18 22 7 —69
CLEARWATER (0-1) (FG 3 FT TP)—Carter 2-4 (0-1) 0-2 4; Mason Smith 1-9 3-4 5; Carlson 1-6 (0-1) 0-0 2; Clevenger 1-7 (1-5) 0-0 3; Fisher 1-8 (0-4) 1-2 3; Isaac Smith 0-3 0-0 0; Hastings 0-2 1-2 1; Brookings 2-2 0-0 4; Totals 8-41 (1-13) 5-10 22
GREAT BEND (3-0)—Minton 8-10 1-1 17; Ian Premer 8-14 (0-1) 1-2 17; Nicholson 5-8 (0-2) 1-2 11; Ohnmacht 3-9 (2-4) 1-2 9; Somers 1-5 (1-4) 0-0 3; Reed 1-4 1-2 3; Wondra 1-4 (0-2) 0-0 2; Hall 3-5 0-0 6; Alec Premer (0-1) 0-0 0; Fanshier 0-0 1-2 1; Totals 30-59 (3-15) 6-11 69
Haven 12 10 19 21 — 62
Meade 10 9 9 9 — 37
HAVEN (3-0)—Rinehart 9 3-4 21; Bontrager 8 0-0 16; Wray 2 (1) 0-0 5; Jacques 2 (1) 0-1 5; Nisly (1) 0-0 3; Martin (1) 1-2 4; Richey 4 0-0 8; Totals 27 (4) 4-7 62
MEADE (2-1)—Lynn 5 (2) 3-4 15; Jones 1 4-8 6; McAtee (1) 0-0 3; Leterle 1 0-0 2; Ritter 1 0-0 2; Coe 2 2-3 6; Holguin 0 3-4 3; Totals 11 (3) 12-19 37
KINGMAN BOYS—Great Bend 62, Sterling 61; Meade 67, Kingman 44; 12-12—Haven 62, Meade 37; Great Bend 69, Clearwater 22; 12-13—Sterling vs. Clearwater; Kingman vs Haven; 12-14—1ST—Great Bend vs. Haven; 3RD—Sterling vs. Meade; 5TH—Clearwater vs. Kingman
