BY JIM MISUNAS jmisunas@gbtribune.com HAYS — Great Bend's aggressive defense forged a 35-35 tie with state-ranked Hays High through three quarters. The Panthers accomplished the feat with 34% shooting. The upset-minded Panthers were eight minutes away from first place in the Western Athletic Conference. The Indians' defense stifled the Panthers, who converted 1 of 13 field goals in the fourth quarter for a 50-37 Western Athletic Conference victory. Great Bend's Cooper Ohnmacht scored nine of his 16 points in the third quarter by hitting mid-range shots in addition to a few drives to the basket. Jacob Hall chipped in 11 points against an Indian defense focused on slowing him down. The Panthers misfired from 3-point range with 4 of 20 shooting from behind the arc. Indian Isaac Fox stepped up for a gritty 14-point effort. Standout Dawson Ruder scored 13 points, but shot 4 of 12 against aggressive Panther defense that featured Daxton Minton as a primary second-half defender. Great Bend 8 28 16 23 — 37 Hays High 10 28 16 23 — 50 GREAT BEND (8-7, 1-1)—Ohnmacht 7-19 (1-4) 1-2 16; Jacob Hall 4-12 (1-4) 2-2 11; Alec Premer 0-8 (0-5) 2-2 2; Wondra 1-4 (1-3) 0-0 3; Minton 1-4 (1-3) 0-0 3; Stroup 1-6 (0-2) 0-0 2; Totals 14-51 (4-20) 5-6 37 HAYS (12-3, 3-0)—Fox 6-13 2-4 14; Ruder 4-12 (0-2) 5-6 13; Oakley 3-8 (0-3) 3-5 9; Harmoney (2-4) 0-0 6; Day 1-1 1-2 3; Smalley 1-2 0-0 2; Homeier 1-3 0-0 2; Pfeifer 0 1-2 1; Totals 18-43 (2-8) 12-19 50 Great Bend 4 4 5 9 — 22 Hays High 20 12 18 11 — 61 GREAT BEND (3-12, 0-2)—Stevie Mayers 1-4 0-0 2; Meredith Mazouch 0-7 2-2 2; Hogan 0-3 (0-1) 0-0 0; Alex Mayers 1-7 (1-3) 0-0 3; Chayla Prendergast 3-8 0-0 6 0-2 6; Ringo 0-4 0-0 0; Katherine Mazouch 2-4 (0-1) 1-2 5; McCauley 1-10 (0-5) 0-0 2; Umphres (0-1) 0-0 0; Totals 9-49 (1-11) 3-4 22 HAYS (14-1, 3-0)—Schmeidler 8-16 (5-10) 4-5 25; Winter 4-7 (1-1) 2-2 11; Armbruster 2-7 (2-6) 0-0 6; Turner 2-5 (1-3) 0-0 5; Harrington 2-4 (0-1) 1-1 5; Cunningham (1-1) 1-2 4; Bates 1-3 0-0 2; Humphrey 0-3 (0-1) 0-0 0; LaBarge 1-3 1-2 3; Totals 21-49 (10-23) 9-12 61