BYJIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
DODGE CITY — Great Bend's Jacob Hall picked a perfect time for a career high 42 points that ties the school record. The Panthers played without standout starters Ian Premer and Cooper Ohnmacht, who was a late-week scratch.
The Panthers required every point in a hard-fought 64-57 Western Athletic Conference basketball victory over Dodge City. Hall converted 13 of 19 field goals and 13 of 16 free throws to tie Anthony Guliford's 42-point school-record effort in 1991.
Dodge City had no defensive answer for Hall, who used his patience and ball skills to constantly fake and get Dodge City defenders on their heels despite commanding ample defensive attention.
"Jake played tough tonight, played through contact," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh. "Jake and I got together and told ourselves neither of us were going to complain to the refs. The other coaches laughed."
Hall helped rally the Panthers from a 38-31 deficit with a brilliant 16-point third quarter keyed by a 3-pointer and a pair of 3-point plays. Great Bend outscored Dodge City 33-19 after trailing 38-31.
Kriegh said the scouting report was accurate because he believed Dodge City would play zone rather than challenge the Panthers in man-to-man defense.
"Our guys had to play hard and play through adversity tonight," Kriegh said.
The Panthers threw their defensive roster against Dodge City's matchup nightmare Ty Scheck, who scored 32 points off a variety of hard drives to the basket that produced 10 field goals and 10 free throws.
In a true NBA-style, Scheck creates contact and draws fouls.
As usual, it was Daxton Minton's spirited defense that made the difference for a few possessions. Minton foiled Scheck's plan with a steal and layup for a 61-54 lead, by drawing an offensive foul and creating a tie ball that turned the basketball back to the Panthers.
"One time, Dax gets pushed out of bounds, but he comes back and contests a shot," Kriegh said. "Dax guarded Scheck like he's never been guarded. That's great effort. Dax's a player who will do whatever he can to win."
The Panthers' defense preserved the victory in the final two minutes. Great Bend's plan to kill time translated to three turnovers along with a rushed shot as the shot clock wound down.
Hall converted three free throws after Nathan Schulte tossed up a wild 3-point miss on Dodge City's most important possession of the game down 61-57.
Tavon Stroup added 10 points for the Panthers (12-8, 5-1 WAC) who keep their WAC titles hopes alive with home games against Liberal (2-16, 0-5 WAC) Monday and Hays High (1-4, 6-0 WAC) Feb. 27 left on the schedule.
Great Bend 18 9 25 12 — 64
Dodge City 16 16 17 8 — 57
GREAT BEND (12-8, 5-1)—Jacob Hall 13-19 (3-3) 13-16 42; Stroup 5-9 (0-2) 0-0 10, Jaxon Wondra 2-7 (1-2) 0-0 5, Alec Premer 1-8 (1-7) 1-2 4, Minton 1-3 (0-2) 0-3 2, Price 0-2 1-2 1; Totals 22-48 (5-16) 15-23 64
DODGE CITY (10-11, 1-5)—Ty Scheck 10-22 (3-10) 9-12 32; Lembright 3-10 (0-3) 2-2 8; Woods 3-3 (1-1) 1-1 8; Ochs 1-5 (0-2) 1-2 3; Smith 1-6 0-0 2; Schulte 2-3 (0-1) 0-0 4; Norris 0-4 (0-1) 0-0 0; Morrison 0-4 (0-1) 0-0 0; Totals 20-53 (4-19) 13-17 57
5A WEST BOYS (PROJECTED)
WICHITA—1—Kapaun-Mt, Carmel 21-0 vs. 16—Arkansas City 6-14; 8—Wichita Carroll 13-7 vs. 9—Salina Central 13-8
MAIZE—2—Maize South 18-3 vs. vs 15—Hutchinson 7-13; 7—Salina South 15-7 vs. 10—Great Bend 13-8
TOPEKA—3—Topeka West 17-3 vs. 14—Valley Center 8-13; 6—Emporia 15-6 vs. 11—Andover High 11-9
TOPEKA—4—Topeka Seaman 17-4 vs. 13—Andover Central 9-13; 5—Hays High 16-4 vs. 12—Goddard Eisenhower 9-10
ELIMINATED—17—Goddard 2-15; 18—Newton 1-21
Liberal 17 14 12 18 — 61
Great Bend 15 23 26 19 — 83
LIBERAL (2-18, 0-6)—Fieser 10-17 0-0 20; Hernandez 6-11 (3-7) 2-2 17; Collins 3-7 (2-3) 1-2 9; Gonzalez 3-8 (0-1) 1-2 7; Castillo (1-1) 1-2 4; Diego Martin 1-5 (0-4) 0-0 2; Moreno Olvera 0-5 (0-3) 0-0 0; Olmstead 1-2 0-0 0; Contreras (0-1) 0-0 0; Cardenas 0-3 (0-1) 0-0 0; Totals 25-60 (6-22) 5-8 61
GREAT BEND (13-8, 6-1)—Jacob Hal 12-15 (1-1) 7-9 32; Ohnmacht 3-10 (1-1) 4-4 11; Jaxon Wondra 4-7 (1-2) 2-2 11; Minton 4-6 (1-1) 0-0 9; Stroup 3-4 (2-2) 0-0 8; Alec :Premer 1-3 (0-2) 1-2 3; Price 2-2 0-0 4 Fanshier 1-1 0-0 2; Gavin Wondra 0-0 1-2 1, Kaiser 0-1 0-0 0; Prilling (0-1) 0-0 0; Contreras 1-1 0-o 2; Totals 31-51 (6-11) 15-19 83
Liberal 10 13 15 11 — 49
Great Bend 7 11 6 7 — 31
LIBERAL (14-3, 4-2)—Lewis 7-18 (0-1); Rhine 3-14 (1-10) 0-0 7; Alvarez 2-9 (2-5) 1-2 7; Mullens 3-10 1-2 7; Short 2-3 2-4 6; Hammond 1-4 (0-2) 0-2 2; Olvera 1-7 (0-3) 2-3 4; Carter (0-5) 0-0 0; Heredia 0-1 0-0 0; Cadena 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 19-72 (3-26) 8-15 49
GREAT BEND (3-17, 1-6)—Alex Mayers 2-8 (2-5) 3-3 9; Ringo 3-6 (0-1) 2-4 8; Meredith Mazouch 2-7 3-4 7; McCauley 2-4 (0-1) 0-2 4; Baze Hogan 1-5 1-4 3; Chayla Prendergast 0-5 0-0 0; Katherine Mazouch 0-4 (0-1) 0-0 0; Stevie Mayers 0-2 (0-1) 0-0 0; Totals 10-41 (2-9) 9-17 31
