BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
SALINA — Andover basketball coach Martin Shetlar tried every defensive tactic he could think of trying to slow down Great Bend's Most Valuable Player Ian Premer in Saturday's Salina Invitational championship game.
Give Shetlar an "A" for effort, but the Trojans didn't show the strength or athleticism to defend Premer.
Premer highlighted a vintage 29-point night with a slam dunk and a volleyball style blocked shot against Zeke McCaskill. The 6-foot-6 Premer converted 12 of 14 field goals on pull-up jumpers, stylish inside scores and rebound putbacks. Premer's 85-point tournament total is third all-time at the Salina Invite.
No. 6 ranked 5A Great Bend (11-1) played efficient basketball to down the Trojans 61-45 to erase the memory of a 65-58 semifinal setback to champion Andover last year. The Panthers scored on their first 10 possessions when they didn't turn it over, and converted 23 of 41 field goals (56%) and 14 of 19 free throws.
All-tournament Jacob Hall delivered 10 first-half points and Ben Nicholson finished with 15 points, a slam dunk and 10 second-half points.
"It's a championship game, a physical game that makes things more intense," Premer said. "We were ready to go from the 'jump.' Defensively, we were sound and most of their shots were contested. We've prepared to play tough teams like Andover and executed just like we knew we could."
The Trojans converted four first-half 3-pointers for a 28-28 tie, but Premer's basket was followed by back-to-back scores by Hall for a 34-28 halftime lead that ignited a 22-4 scoring run wrapped around both halves.
"Jacob Hall and I are going to fight through contact," Premer said.
Premer scored 10 third-quarter points to spark a 14-0 scoring run for a 50-32 lead capped by Nicholson's free throws off a technical foul.
"We had five guys working as a unit on both ends," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh. "We attacked in transition. We did a a good job executing our offense. Our wings got open and relieved pressure. We have a ton of respect for Andover. It's cool to win a championship."
Andover's all-tournament Joshua Kim scored 22 points, but was slowed by three fouls at halftime. Owen Allman added 11 points. After a trio of first-quarter treys, the Trojans finished 6 of 22 from long range (27%).
Kim was defended superbly by the trio of Daxton Minton, Izeah Reed and Premer.
"Daxton did a great defensive good job on Kim and didn't give him any easy ones," Premer said. "I saved some energy and faced-guarded him. It's a great team effort and everyone was ready to help. Our help defense was great tonight."
After a 12-point first half, Kim finished 7 of 19 from the field and launched a pair of hairballs after Nicholson rejected his inside shot.
"Kim is super skilled," Kriegh said. "We played man-to-man on Kim with Daxton, but it was a total team effort with Izeah Reed and Ian defending him. We didn't want Kim roaming around and tried not to let him get comfortable."
Andover 13 15 4 13 — 45
Great Bend 18 16 16 11 — 61
ANDOVER (8-3) (FG 3 FT TP)—Joshua Kim 7-18 (2-9) 5-7 22, Allman 5-12 (1-5) 0-0 11, McCaskill 2-4 (1-2) 1-2 6, Evans 1-5 (1-4) 2-2 5, Lee 0-2 0-0 0, Baker 0-1 0-0 0, McClelland (0-2) 1-2 1, Totals 15-44 (6-22) 9-13 45
GREAT BEND (11-1) (FG 3 FT TP)—Ian Premer 12-14 5-8 29, Jacob Hall 4-12 2-4 10, Nicholson 4-9 (1-2) 6-6 15, Reed 1-3 0-0 2, Minton 2-2 1-1 5, Stroup 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 23-41 (1-2) 14-19 61
Technical foul—Andover
ALL-TOURNAMENT—Great Bend (Ian Premer; Jacob Hall); Andover (Joshua Kim, Walker McClellan); Salina Central (Kaden Snyder, Kamryn Jones); Salina South (Jace Humphrey); Wichita South (Maliek Saunders); Buhler (Jacob Miller); Abilene (Ian Crump); MOST VALUABLE PLAYER—Premer; MOST INSPIRATIONAL—Abilene (Tyler Holloway)
SALINA BOYS—1ST—Great Bend 61, Andover 45; 3RD—Salina Central 55, Salina South 54; 5TH—Abilene 67, Wichita South 49; 7TH—Buhler 58, Wamego 51; SECOND ROUND—Great Bend 54, Salina Central 49; Andover 77, Salina South 33; Wichita South def. Buhler; Abilene def. Wamego; FIRST ROUND—Great Bend 72, Wichita South 42; Salina Central 55, Buhler 51; Andover 73, Wamego 33; Salina South 72, Abilene 59
