BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
LIBERAL – Great Bend's Joseph Moeder played his typical hard-nosed style, running the court and drawing offensive charges.
His teammates followed suit with a spectacular team effort in a dominating 67-31 Western Athletic Conference road basketball victory Friday. Player-after-player enjoyed their best game of the basketball season.
Joseph Moeder sparked the Panthers with 12 points. Stefan Spray scored a game high 15 points and muscled inside for scores. Point guard Sage Koelsch showed toughness against pressure and scored 12 points with his patented splendid ballhandling. Braylon Council sparked the opening 22-point first quarter with a pair of 3-pointers and 10 points.
The Panthers played near-perfect defense in the second and third quarters during a 38-7 scoring run. Joseph Moeder, Stefan Spray and Council each scored 10 first-half points. Joseph Moeder was the beneficiary of excellent passing as Council dished out two assists and Koelsch and Maddox Spray spotted Moeder motoring to the basket.
The Panthers (5-9, 2-2 WAC) played flawless basketball for nearly two quarters during a shocking 29-0 scoring run that extended a 30-19 lead to 59-19 with a minute left in the third period. They spaced the floor, moved without the basketball and finished offensive plays with 8 of 15 shots from 3-point range.
"We're capable of playing like that," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh. "It makes coaching worthwhile to see the guys excited. It feels good for the kids. Braylon Council came out on fire. We rebounded the basketball. We kept our poise and it paid off tonight."
Kriegh welcomed the Redskins' fullcourt pressure after the Panthers worked against pressure defense Junction City, Hutchinson High and Wichita Collegiate.
"We're used to pressure because we've played several teams that play that style," Kriegh said. "The key was we gave our guys a break tonight. We've gained confidence in our backups."
The Panthers played stifling defense that held Liberal to 12 of 39 shooting and 21 points through three quarters. Quin Williams led Liberal (4-10, 0-4 WAC) with six points.
Great Bend plays No. 3 state-ranked 4A Buhler (12-2) at home Tuesday.
Great Bend 22 22 16 7 – 67
Liberal 14 5 2 10 — 31
GREAT BEND (5-9, 2-2)—Stefan Spray 5-10 4-4 15, Joseph Moeder 6-11 0-0 12, Koelsch 4-7 2-2 12, Council 2-7 4-4 10, Maddox Spray 2-3 2-4 6, Coombs 2-6 0-0 6, Dicks 1-1 0-0 3, Brack 0-0 2-2 2, Stuhlsatz 0-1 0-2 0, Mathew Moeder 0-1 1-2 1, Totals 22-47 15-20 67.
LIBERAL (4-10, 0-4)—Tran 1-4 1-2 4, Kerr 2-2 0-0 4, Garcia-Rotolo 1-4 0-0 2, Jenkins 0-0 1-2 1, Miller 0-2 0-0 0, Amador 1-1 0-0 3, Gilmore 1-5 0-0 3, Huskey 1-3 0-2 2, Williams 3-5 0-0 6, Avalos 0-2 0-0 0, Robledo 1-3 0-0 3, Staten 1-2 0-0 3, Totals 12-39 2-6 31.
3-pointers—GB 8-15 (Koelsch 2-3, Coombs 2-3, Council 2-5, Dicks 1-1, S. Spray 1-3), L 5-18 (Amador 1-1, Staten 1-1, Robledo 1-2, Gilmore 1-2, Tran 1-4, Huskey 0-1, Miller 0-2, Garcia-Rotolo 0-2, Jenkins 0-3).
