BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
SALINA — Great Bend 6-foot-1 sophomore Chayla Prendergast sparked a 60-25 victory over Junction City for seventh place in the Salina Invitational basketball tournament with a career high 15 points one day after a career high 11 points.
Prendergast's improvement is remarkable considering this is her first varsity basketball experience. She's developing into an inside presence with the ability to score inside, defend and control the boards. Her confidence has grown by leaps and bounds.
"Chayla's been great. She's starting to shoot the basketball," said Great Bend coach Jade Winter. "When she catches the ball and shoots it, she's really effective."
The Panthers jump started the 10 a.m. showdown with aggressive full-court defense that forced 31 Blue Jay turnovers. The Panthers led 27-2 after one quarter thanks to an effective transition game that turned takeaways into layups. The Panthers featured unselfish play by moving the ball crisply to teammates for quality shots.
"We need more fire on defense," Winter said. "That's how aggressive we need to play defensively. Our starters did a great job getting out the running the court for scores."
Ten Panthers scored with Alyssa McCauley and DeShawnna Bryant each scoring eight points. Freshman Callie Umphries delivered a dazzling varsity debut with a 2-pointer and 3-pointer for five points.
A'niyah Henry Rivers led the Blue Jays with 10 points.
The Panthers (4-8) broke a 6-game losing streak after beating Clearwater, Sterling and Emporia. Great Bend has lost Western Athletic games to Garden City, Liberal by 30-plus points with WAC powerhouse Hays High visiting Great Bend next week.
Great Bend 27 10 15 8 — 60
Junction City 2 10 8 5 — 25
GREAT BEND (4-8) (FG 3 FT TP)—Prendergast 5-12 5-10 15, McCauley 2-7 3-6 8, Bryant 4-7 0-2 8, Meredith Mazouch 1-5 4-4 6, Katherine Mazouch 3-6 (0-2) 0-2 6, Umphres 2-2 (1-1) 0-1 5, Harbaugh 2-6 (0-1) 1-2 5, Mayers 0-1 2-4 2, Reimer 1-5 1-2 3, Siefkes 1-6 0-0 2, Totals 21-57 (2-12) 16-33 60
JUNCTION CITY (1-9) (FG 3 FT TP)—Henry-Rivers 4-7 (0-2) 2-2 10, Pruitt 1-9 (0-1) 0-3 2, Riley 1-1 0-0 2, Harley 2-7 (0-2) 0-0 4, Ellis 0-0 1-2 1, Briley 0-1 0-0 0, Nabus 1-8 (1-2) 0-0 3, Allen (0-1) 0-2 0, Jahnke 1-2 1-3 3, Totals 10-36 (1-8) 4-12 25
SALINA GIRLS—1ST—Andover High 61, Buhler 48; 3RD—Salina South 52, Wamego 46; 5TH—Salina Central 58, Abilene 30; 7TH—Great Bend 60, Junction City 25; SECOND ROUND—Buhler 67, Salina South 44; Andover 51, Wamego 35; Abilene 47, Great Bend 40; Salina Central 66, Junction City 12; FIRST ROUND—Buhler 67, Abilene 44; Salina South 42, Great Bend 12; Andover 81, Junction City 16; Wamego 38, Salina Central 34
ABILENE GIRLS 47, PANTHERS 40 — The inspired play of Meredith Mazouch and a career-best game by Chayla Prendergast nearly rallied the Great Bend girls from a 12-point deficit.
After losing 35 consecutive basketball games, the Abilene Cowgirls earned a chance at fifth place with a determined 47-40 victory over Great Bend in Friday's Salina Invitational basketball tournament. Abilene (2-7) snapped the 2-year losing streak with a recent victory over Concordia.
After trailing 14-2, the Panthers played their best basketball of the season with a 30-18 scoring stretch that started in the first quarter. After halftime, Meredith Mazouch scored eight points, Prendergast six points and Alyssa McCauley five points for a 32-32 tie. The Panthers hung within 37-36 on a Prendergast basket when the Cowgirls closed with a 10-4 burst.
Abilene's Rinata Heintz and Kimber Taylor converted fourth-quarter 3-pointers and Tessa Herrman capped a career-best 22-point game with seven points in the fourth quarter.
Meredith Mazouch scored 12 points and Prendergast 11 points. The Panthers play Junction City for seventh place at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Great Bend 10 5 11 14 — 40
Abilene 16 10 3 18 — 47
GREAT BEND (3-8) (FG 3 FT TP)—Meredith Mazouch 12, Prendergast 11, Mayers 6, McCauley 5, Bryant 2, Reimer 2, Katherine Mazouch 2
ABILENE (2-7) (FG 3 FT TP)—Tessa Herrman 22, Heintz 7, Taylor 5, McKenna Stover 4, Barberri 4, Crump 3, Crane 2
SALINA GIRLS—1ST—Andover High 61, Buhler 48; 3RD—Salina South 52, Wamego 46; 5TH—Salina Central 58, Abilene 30; 7TH—Great Bend 60, Junction City 25; SECOND ROUND—Buhler 67, Salina South 44; Andover 51, Wamego 35; Abilene 47, Great Bend 40; Salina Central 66, Junction City 12; FIRST ROUND—Buhler 67, Abilene 44; Salina South 42, Great Bend 12; Andover 81, Junction City 16; Wamego 38, Salina Central 34
