BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
KINGMAN — Great Bend's girls parlayed an aggressive defensive game for a comfortable 54-36 victory over Sterling in Tuesday's Eagle Basketball Classic. The Black Bears shot 28% from the field, 20% on 3-pointers and 4-of-16 on free throws.
The Panthers (1-1) outscored the Black Bears 31-12 in the second and third periods that saw Sterling convert 5 of 28 field goals in the middle quarters. The Panthers' height inside created scoring issues for the Black Bears.
"We got a lot of deflections and that helps when you're getting steals and layups," said Great Bend coach Jade Winter. "The girls went out and got after it defensively. We went after loose balls and crashed the offensive rebounds boards hard."
Alyssa McCauley converted a pair of 3-pointers and scored 14 points. DeShawnna Bryant scored 12 points and Katherine Mazouch added nine points, two off a nifty assist from her sister Meredith Mazouch.
After a 10-10 tie, the Panthers led 21-14 at halftime. Six players scored in the third quarter sparked by six points by Katherine Mazouch off 10 of 17 shooting in the period.
"Alyssa (McCauley) got her feet set and converted some shots. She gained confidence," Winter said. "We moved the ball around and let our offense work for us today. We stuck to our offense. It doesn't matter you're a starter or off the bench, you can contribute."
Sterling (0-2) was paced by Aleya Ravenstein with 18 points off 6 of 18 shooting.
The Panthers (1-1) play Clearwater Thursday.
Sterling 10 4 8 14 — 36
Great Bend 10 11 20 13 — 54
STERLING (0-2) (FG 3 FT TP)—Ravenstein 6-18 (1-6) 1-4 14; Locke 3-8 (1-4) 1-4 8; Olsen 1-10 (1-8) 0-0 3; Garrett 2-5 0-2 4; Kilgore 1-3 0-0 2; Wilkey 0-0 2-2 2; Gray 0-1 0-4 0; Wohler 1-2 (1-1) 0-0 2; Conard 0-3 (0-1) 0-0 0; Totals 14-50 (4-20) 4-16 36
GREAT BEND (1-1) (FG 3 FT TP)—McCauley 5-11 (2-7) 2-4 14; Bryant 6-12 0-0 12; Katherine Mazouch 4-8 (1-2) 0-0 9; Ellegood 3-6 0-0 6; Mayers 2-3 (1-1) 0-2 5; Prendergast 2-6 0-0 4; Meredith Mazouch 1-8 (0-2) 0-0 2; Reimer 1-3 0-0 2; Siefkes 0-1 0-0 0; Harbaugh 0-2 0-0 0; Totals 24-60 (4-12) 2-6 54
KINGMAN GIRLS
12-10—Great Bend 54, Sterling 36; Meade 53, Kingman 46
12-12—Haven vs. Meade, 3, 4:30; Great Bend vs. Clearwater, 6, 7:30
12-13—Sterling vs. Clearwater, 3, 4:30; Kingman vs Haven 6, 7:30.
12-14—Kingman Classic 1ST, 3RD, 5TH, 12
