LIBERAL GIRLS 49, GREAT BEND 31 — Great Bend's 5-foot-3 Meredith Mazouch set the tone with her fearless drives to the basket, seven points and pesky offensive rebounding.
"Meredith is great because she's really competitive," said Great Bend coach Jade Winter. "Meredith is a great rebounder because teams don't box her out."
The Panthers' most confident rebounder was even tagged with a 3-second violation despite the fact the Redskins didn't consider her a threat.
The Panthers showed heart and fight despite being overmatched physically and depth wise in a 49-31 loss Monday. Great Bend showed a 16-point improvement from a 74-40 loss to Liberal. The Redskins led 26-0 the first time the teams played.
Alex Mayers repeated her game-winning magic with a pair of 3-pointers and nine points. Denver Ringo converted an amazing left-handed field goal en route to eight points.
Great Bend (4-17, 1-6 WAC) is ending its season with a competitive fire despite no postseason play.
The Panthers made Liberal standouts Shamari Lewis (7 of 18) and Kylie Rhine (3 of 14) work for a combined 10 of 32 shooting night. Lewis scored 16 points, but her frustration showed after a missed shot led to a 'hard foul' against the Panthers.
Liberal pressed full-court the entire game, which forced 37 Panther turnovers. Liberal showed the depth required to overcome multiple fouls by the Redskins. The Panthers converted 9 of 17 free throws.
"I was proud of the way the girls fought," said Great Bend coach Jade Winter. "We knew we had to be the aggressor. I was proud of how aggressive the girls played on offense. When the girls got pushed down, they pushed back. When Liberal applied pressure, our girls made sure the fouls were obvious."
The Redskins' height and strength advantage led to multiple field goals tries. Liberal gained a 31-shot advantage, converting 19 of 72 field goals, compared to 10 of 41 shooting by the Panthers.
"Liberal likes to press and not let you get back in the game," Winter said. "They like to get you down and not let you back up. The girls know they have to take care of the basketball as well as they could."
Winter said the Panthers kept working together against a challenging schedule. The Panthers have improved by 13 points per game in their second WAC meeting.
"We challenged the girls to be energetic and be excited. They show up every day," Winter said. "It's showed up on the court for us. The girls are working hard and want to win."
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
