BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
SALINA —Once Great Bend cranked up the defensive intensity, the Panthers outscored Wichita South 24-8 for a dominating 72-41 Salina Invitational first-round basketball victory over the Titans.
Standout Ian Premer scored 28 points, Jacob Hall netted 17 points and Ben Nicholson added 15 points. Premer and Hall dominated inside for 29 first-half points. Nicholson scored 13 second-half points. The Panthers made 26 of 36 2-pointers (72%) by the Panthers trio finishing inside shots effectively.
Wichita South sliced a double-digit lead to 32-26 with a 16-9 scoring run. Hall capped a 15-point half with a basket of 6-of-6 shooting that ignited a 15-0 scoring burst for a 47-26 lead. Nicholson benefited from a quick transition game with nine third-quarter points highlighted by a slam dunk.
"We played well defensively during that stretch," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh. "We kept the basketball out of the paint and got our transition game going. Ben Nicholson played really well and ran the court that second half. We've got the guys who finished scoring inside."
Wichita South's Jackson Howard scored eight points with Jamison Howard, Jerry Florence and Sean Patterson adding six apiece. The Titans exhibited excellent quickness and moved the basketball crisply, and converted 18 of 57 field goals.
"Wichita South features athletes who play hard," Kriegh said. "Give credit to South for playing good basketball that first half."
No. 6 ranked 5A Great Bend (10-1) played Salina Central (5-4) in Friday's semifinal. Saturday's championship game starts at 2:30 p.m. at Kansas Wesleyan.
Wichita South 9 17 8 7 — 41
Great Bend 19 13 24 16 — 72
WICHITA SOUTH (1-9) (FG 3 FT TP)—Jackson Howard 3-10 2-5 8, Jamison Howard 3-12 (0-2) 0-0 6, Maliek Saunders 2-8 (0-3) 0-0 4, Florence (2-5) 0-0 6, Jayshon Simmons 2-5 (0-1) 0-0 4, Harbin 1-4 (1-2) 0-0 3; Starks 0-2 0-0 0, Patterson 3-6 0-2 6, Antoine Simmons (0-1) 1-2 1, Sandifer 1-2 1-1 3, Isiah Saunders (0-2) 0-0 0; Totals 18-57 () 4-10 41
GREAT BEND (10-1) (FG 3 FT TP)—Ian Premer 11-17 5-7 28, Jacob Hall 6-6 5-5 17, Nicholson 6-10 3-3 15, Reed 0-1 2-2 2, Minton 0-1 2-4 2, Stroup 0-3 0-0 0, Fanshier 1-1 0-0 2, Ethan Somers 1-1 0-0 2, Wondra 0-1 0-0 0, Alec Premer 1-2 0-0 2, Eli Somers 1-1 0-0 2, Totals 27-44 (1-8) 17-21 72
SALINA BOYS—Great Bend 72, Wichita South 42; Salina Central 55, Buhler 51; Andover, Wamego; Abilene, Salina South; 1-24—Great Bend 9-1 vs. Salina Central 5-4; Andover 8-2 vs. Abilene 6-2; Buhler 3-6 vs. Wichita South 1-9; Wamego 2-6 vs. Salina South 3-6
SALINA SOUTH GIRLS 42, PANTHERS 12 — When Great Bend's DeShawnna Bryant was credited with a basket that Salina South's Tamia Cheeks deflected into the basket on Bryant's pass from 15 feet, the thought occurred that maybe the Panthers tough luck had shifted.
No such chance.
The good news?
Salina South's 42-12 victory in the Salina Invitational showed a 7-point improvement from the Cougars 57-20 opening game victory over the Panthers.
Great Bend showed considerable defensive improvement with the Cougars shooting 30% (16-54) and 22% (5-23) from 3-point range. Paitlyn Fritz scored 14 points and Tamia Cheeks added 10 points, but the Cougars' top two players made 9 of 27 field goals (33%).
The Panthers converted 4 of 38 field goals (10.5%) and shot 0 for 11 on 3-pointers. Alyssa McCauley and Bryant each scored four points.
The Panthers didn't score a basket for 19 minutes until Maddie Siefkes scored with 1:02 left in the fourth quarter. Siefkes scored a career high four points the first time the Panthers played the Cougars. Chayla Prendergast provided a solid defensive and rebounding presence.
Great Bend's offense struggled with the physical nature of the game at times. One time, AVL-CTL Defensive Player of the Year Cheeks chest-bumped McCauley outside the 3-point line, but was no foul was called.
Great Bend 2 6 1 3 — 12
Salina South 12 9 11 10 — 42
GREAT BEND (3-7) (FG 3 FT TP)—McCauley 2-7 (0-4) 0-0 4, Bryant 1-10 2-2 4, Meredith Mazouch 0-3 (0-2) 1-6 1, Reimer (0-2) 0-0 0, Siefkes 1-1 0-0 2, Prendergast 0-4 0-2 0, Mayers 0-1 0-0 0, Katherine Mazouch 0-9 (0-3) 1-4 1, Minton 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 4-38 (0-11) 4-14 12
SALINA SOUTH (5-4) (FG 3 FT TP)—Fritz 5-15 (1-4) 3-4 14, Cheeks 4-12 (0-3) 2-4 10, Barth 1-5 (0-1) 0-0 2, Jordan 1-4 (1-3) 0-0 3, Moss 2-6 (2-5) 0-2 6, Daily 1-7 (0-4) 0-0 2, Maxton 0-2 (0-1) 0-0 0, Crow (0-1) 0-0 0, Hamel 2-2 (1-1) 0-0 5, Totals 16-54 (5-23) 5-10 42
SALINA GIRLS—Buhler 67, Abilene 44; Salina South 42, Great Bend 12; Andover 81, Junction City 16; Salina Central, Wamego; Buhler 8-1 vs. Salina South 5-4; Andover 8-1 vs. Salina Central 5-4; Great Bend 3-7 vs. Abilene 1-7; Wamego 5-4 vs. Junction City 1-6
FAIRFIELD BOYS—Reno County Homeschool 55, Chase 22; Sedgwick 56, Pretty Prairie 42; Reno County 62, Fairfield 32; Wichita CC 59, Sedgwick 44; Fairfield vs. Chase; Pretty Prairie vs. Wichita CC
FAIRFIELD GIRLS—Reno County Homeschool 43, Chase 25; Sedgwick 53, Pretty Prairie 36; Reno County 43, Fairfield 22; Wichita CC 40, Sedgwick 33; Fairfield vs. Chase; Pretty Prairie vs. Wichita CC
