BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
HUTCHINSON — Wichita Bishop Carroll was one play away from surprising Great Bend's state-ranked boys basketball team. Carroll outscored the Panthers 24-13 to lead 47-44 with 90 seconds left Saturday.
Fortunately, Panther Jacob Hall rode to the rescue in a thrilling 50-47 victory over the Golden Eagles. Hall knocked down a 3-pointer for a 47-47 tie and converted two pressure packed free throws for a 49-47 lead and a 19-point night.
"That was a big 3-pointer by Jacob Hall," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh.
Panther Daxton Minton made one free throw for a 50-47 lead sandwiched around back-to-back 3-point 'airballs' by Carroll's Brody Kreutzer and Landon Steven.
The hotly-contested showdown had a postseason vibe with every shot and rebound challenged defensively with physical man-to-man defense.
"That's the type of basketball game that helps your team grow," Kriegh said. "You don't qualify for the state tournament tonight. But this is part of a season-long process understanding what it takes."
Carroll's fouling strategy nearly worked as the Panthers converted 13 of 27 free throws. Cooper Ohnmacht gave the Panthers a bonus point on a Carroll technical foul against Kreutzer.
Kriegh believed the average free throw shooting was fatigue from back-to-back early season games.
The momentum swung back-and-forth depending on the accuracy of Carroll's long-range gunners. Carroll started with zero points in 10 offensive tries before hitting six 3-pointers for a 22-22 tie.
Hall, Tavon Stroup and Ian Premer scored for a 31-23 lead when Carroll started to mix hard drives to the basket after the Panthers chased the Golden Eagles off the 3-point line.
A volleyball block by Ian Premer and a second block by Stroup was followed by a Kreutzer's 3-pointer (of course). The largest lead was three points in the final 12 minutes.
The Panthers limited Carroll's trio of designated sharpshooters — Kreutzer, Jaxon Wright and Nathan Goertz — to a combined 4 of 18 from long range. Kreutzer scored 15 points, but shot 15 times.
"Carroll shoots a lot of 3s," he said. "We did a better job after halftime. We had to do a variety of things defensively. We talked a lot how we wanted to play their ball screens. It's a matter of hedging a screen, switching guys and positioning."
Kriegh believes Carroll's perimeter offensive style is a challenge to defend. The Golden Eagles connected on 9 of 28 shots (32%) from 3-point range and 5 of 15 (33%) inside the 3-point stripe.
The Golden Eagles converted 6 of 16 tries from 3-point range the first half with four attempts inside the stripe.
Wichita Carroll 12 11 15 9 — 47
Great Bend 12 14 13 11 — 50
GREAT BEND (FG/3/FT/TP)—Jacob Hall 6-10 (1-2) 6-11 19; Ian Premer 6-11 (1-2) 2-4 15; Ohnmacht 1-3 (1-1) 0-0 3; Stroup 3-10 (0-3) 1-2 7; Alec Premer 1-3 (0-2) 1-2 3; Minton 0-3 (0-1) 2-6 2; Wondra 0-0 1-2 1; Totals 17-41 (3-11) 13-27 50
WICHITA CARROLL (FG/3/FT/TP)—Kreutzer 4-15 (3-13) 4-4 15; Steven 2-7 (2-5) 4-6 10; Littlejohn 2-7 (1-2) 2-2 7; Goertz 2-6 (0-2) 2-4 6; Blasi 2-4 (2-3) 0-0 6; Wright 1-4 (1-3) 0-0 3; Totals 13-43 (9-28) 12-16 47.
WICHITA CARROLL GIRLS 53, PANTHERS 33 — After a 20-20 tie, Carroll outscored the Panthers 33-13 after halftime for a convincing victory. The Panthers scored 13 points on 43 offensive possessions off 6 of 26 second-half field goals and 13 turnovers.
Carroll's Corbin Mount scored on three consecutive rebound baskets followed by two more scores for a 30-20 lead while the Panthers committed eight turnovers in nine tries.
Alex Mayers (9 points), Stevie Mayers (7 points) and Chayla Prendergast (7 points) gave the Panthers an offensive spark.
The Panthers' aggressive defense helped jump start an offense which scored 23 points Friday.
"We got in the passing lanes and got them frustrated. Our defense translated over to our offense," said Great Bend coach Jade Winter. "We caught their defense off guard and made a few shots. We moved without the basketball and passed the ball better. Our post players were open more. We showed we belonged today."
Great Bend showcased solid defense, but gave up too many second-chance points and scores after turnovers.
"Our need to keep our energy up because our two third quarters haven't been strong," Winter said "We need to keep battling and do the small things better."
The Panthers play 4A Clearwater and 3A Haven next week at Kingman.
Wichita Carroll 7 13 13 20 — 53
Great Bend 9 11 6 7 — 33
GREAT BEND—Alex Mayers 3 (1) 2-2 9; Stevie Mayers 3 1-3 7; Prendergast 3 1-2 7; McCauley 1 2-2 4; Katherine Mazouch 2 0-0 4; Ringo 1 0-0 2; Meredith Mazouch 0 0-0 0; Totals 13 (1) 6-9 33
WICHITA CARROLL—Mount 5 0-1 10; McCorry 3 2-4 8; Penka 3 (1) 0-0 7; Stallbaumer 2 2-6 6; Elvar 2 1-2 5; Woodard 2 (1) 0-0 5; Zachman 2 0-0 4; Steven 2 0-0 4; Barrera 1 2-2 4; 22 (2) 7-15 53.
