BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
Jacob Hall dominated inside with a career high 29 points as Great Bend clinched a share of the Western Athletic Conference with a 72-56 basketball victory over Dodge City Friday.
Ben Nicholson contributed 19 points and a slam dunk as a tribute for all-state teammate Ian Premer, who missed the game recovering from an ankle injury. The Panthers converted 22 of 34 shots from 2-point range (65%) with efficient offense.
Point guard Daxton Minton dished out 10 assists with accurate passing that set up Hall to score inside the paint. Hall converted 10 of 12 field goals with 10 rebounds for a double/double.
"We knew with Ian being out, we had to step it up a notch," Minton said. "We came out blazing. Any defense you can think of we've worked against in practice. Jacob is a competitor who loves to win. He'll do anything he can to help our team."
Hall achieved a career best 23 points by halftime to spark the Panthers to a 45-29 halftime lead. The Panthers' defense improved in the third quarter for a 63-38 lead after three quarters.
"Jacob is skilled," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh. "He shows up every day with his hard-hat on. He plays through contact. The reason why Ian is so good is he works against Jacob Hall every day. Jacob's an ultimate team guy who runs the plays the right way."
Guards Minton and Cooper Ohnmacht broke down Dodge City's defense.
"Dodge City switched up their defense," Kriegh said. "We did a good job with our awareness seeing whether they were playing 1-3-1, 2-3 or man-to-man."
Ohnmacht returned from a knee injury with nine points and all-around play. His 3-point play for a 68-38 lead triggered a running clock. Dodge City outscored the Panthers 18-4 in the final seven minutes.
"Having Cooper Ohnmacht back is sweet," Minton said. "He's a game-changer who's a great defender with athleticism."
Dodge City's Cru Lembright scored 16 points and Ty Scheck added 12 points. The Red Demons (5-13, 2-5 WAC) made 8 of 24 shots from 3-point range.
Great Bend (17-1, 7-0 WAC) clinches a share of the WAC title. The Panthers play Hesston (16-2) Tuesday and travel to Hays (12-7) Feb. 27.
Dodge City 16 13 9 18 — 56
Great Bend 21 24 18 9 — 72
DODGE CITY (5-13, 2-5) (FG 3 FT TP)—Lembright 6-10 (4-8) 0-1 16, Scheck 3-13 (1-10) 5-6 12, Unzueta 3-5 (1-2) 1-2 8, Schulte 2-5 1-2 5, Smith 2-3 0-0 4, Quinones (1-1) 0-0 3, Williams 1-6 (0-2) 3, Presley 0-1 2-2 2, Muhammad 0-1 0-0 0, Castro (1-1) 0-0 3, Totals 19-46 (8-24) 10-16 56
GREAT BEND (17-1, 7-0) (FG 3 FT TP)—Jacob Hall 10-12 (2-3) 7-7 29, Nicholson 8-12 (2-2) 1-1 19, Ohnmacht 4-6 (1-2) 1-1 10, Minton 2-9 (0-4) 2-2 6, Reed 0-0 2-2 2, Stroup 1-3 0-1 2, Wondra 2-3 0-0 4, Ethan Somers (0-1) 0-0 0, Totals 27-46 (5-12) 13-14 72
