BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com

Great Bend's Cassie Ellegood scored a career high 19 points to spark the Panthers to a sweep of Dodge City 56-42 in Friday's Western Athletic Conference basketball showdown. Ellegood converted 9 of 14 field goals with efficient shooting thanks to crisp passing. 

Ellegood's steady improvement came together Friday with a 12-point first half. She used her 5-foot-11 height to gain position and used the backboard effectively. Ellegood also achieved a rare play starting the fourth quarter when her soft jumper remained stationary on the rim, forcing an alternate possession.   

"Dodge City doesn't have a ton of big post players. When I had a mismatch, I got the basketball and played aggressive," Ellegood said. "It feels good to win a second WAC victory, something we needed to happen. We knew we'd do it tonight. We worked for it. We didn't let them score. They have good shooters and use screen-after-screen. They worked around them."

Panther shooting guard Alyssa McCauley broke the game open with back-to-back 3-pointers that sparked a 10-0 scoring run. Ellegood converted a lob pass by McCauley and scored on a Katherine Mazouch assist for a 48-33 lead.

McCauley scored eight points with several assists. DeShawnna Bryant scored eight points. Meredith McCauley added six points. Defensive stopper Jillian Reimer shut out Dodge City's high-scoring Addisyn Taylor until the third quarter.

The Panthers (6-12, 2-5 WAC) wind down the season against unbeaten powerhouses No. 1 ranked 3A Hesston (18-0) and No. 4 ranked 5A Hays High (18-0, 6-0 WAC).

Scrappy Dodge City (1-18, 0-7) stayed within 38-33 keyed by eight 3-pointers. The Panthers closed with an 18-9 scoring burst. Emily Gutierrez scored 16 points. Addisyn Taylor and Gianna Torrez each added eight points.

Dodge City 10 8 13 11  — 42

Great Bend 15 13 9 19 — 56

DODGE CITY (1-18, 0-7) (FG 3 FT TP)—Gutierrez 5-15 (4-13) 2-2 16, Torrez 13 (1-2) 5-6 8, Taylor 3-9 (2-5) 0-2 8, Colwell 2-5 (1-2) 1-2 6, Bell 0-1 0-0 0, Smith 0-3 (0-2) 0-2 0, Mellinger 0-1 2-4 2, Durler 1-4 0-0 2, Totals 12-41 (8-24) 10-18 42

GREAT BEND (6-12, 2-5) (FG 3 FT TP)—Ellegood 9-14 1-2 19, McCauley 3-9 (2-6) 2-6 10, Bryant 4-6 0-0 8, Meredith Mazouch 2-7 (2-5) 0-0 6, Prendergast 2-3 2-6 6, Harbaugh 1-1 1-2 3, Mayers 1-2 (0-1) 0-0 2, Katherine Mazouch 1-2 (0-1) 0-0 2, Reimer 1-3 0-0 2, Minton (0-1) 0-0 0, Totals 24-48 (4-14) 6-16 56