BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
DODGE CITY — When No. 4 state-ranked Great Bend gets dialed in defensively, the Panthers can compete for a 5A state basketball championship.
All-stater Ian Premer highlighted a 28-point night with a windmill slam dunk that keyed a dominating 75-37 Western Athletic Conference basketball victory over Dodge City Thursday.
Great Bend (15-1, 5-0 WAC) owns a 13-game winning streak, dropping Dodge City to 5-11, 2-2 WAC. Great Bend can clinch a postseason home site with a win over Garden City Friday.
The Panthers' defensive and offensive efficiency was hard to believe, outscoring Dodge City 52-5 during a pair of red-hot scoring runs.
Great Bend opened the game on a 26-4 burst as the Panthers converted 11 of 12 field goals and scored on 12 consecutive offensive possessions when they didn't turn the basketball over. Ian Premer and Ben Nicholson combined for 26 first-quarter points.
Just like that, the Panthers' offense and defense went flat, proving they could lose to anybody, even 3A state-ranked Haven.
Dodge City outscored the Panthers 22-5 over the next seven minutes. Dodge City converted four 3-pointers and scored off 10 Panther turnovers for a 31-26 score.
"We got too comfortable. The environment here is not very energetic. You've got to bring your own energy, do a better job talking and get after it," said Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh. "We took some defensive breaks and gave them open shots. Dodge City can score in streaks. They live and die with the 3-point shot."
Just like that, the Panthers proved they could beat anybody again with lock-down defense and near perfect passing and shooting accuracy.
Great Bend outscored Dodge City 12-1 to end the first half and finished off a dominating 26-1 scoring run with a flawless 14-0 run to open the second half for a 52-5 combined scoring streak.
Nicholson stayed red hot with 18 points. Jacob Hall chipped in 12 points. Dax Minton scored nine points and pulled off his patented inbounds passes for several baskets. Nicholson also dished to Hall on an inbounds play when Dodge City denied Ian Premer.
Great Bend converted 25 of 36 shots from 2-point range (69%) and a season-best 4 of 7 on 3-pointers (57%). The only negative statistic was 17 turnovers.
"We were over 20 assists, which is a positive," Kriegh said. "Ian's windmill dunk was pretty impressive. We had guys off the bench who hit threes. They were a lot more positives than negatives."
Dodge City's Cru Lembright scored nine points. The Red Demons (5-11, 2-2 WAC) made 4 of 25 shots from long range.
Great Bend 27 16 21 12 — 75
Dodge City 9 18 4 6 — 37
GREAT BEND (15-1, 5-0)—Ian Premer 11-14 6-7 28, Nicholson 7-12 (1-2) 3-4 18, Jacob Hall 6-7 0-0 12, Minton 3-3 (1-1) 2-4 9, Reed 0-1 2-2 2, Stroup 0-2 0-0 0, Ethan Somers (1-2) 0-0 3, Alec Premer (1-1) 0-0 3, Price 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 29-43 (4-7) 13-17 75
DODGE CITY (5-11, 2-2) (FG 3 FT TP)—Lembright 2-11 (1-7) 4-5 9, Williams 2-7 (1-3) 1-2 6, Scheck 2-7 (1-5) 0-1 5, Unzueta 2-5 (0-3) 2-2 5, Schulte 2-6 (1-5) 0-0 5, Reyes 0-2 (0-1) 0-0 0, Drake 0-1) 0-0 0, Presley 1-2 0-0 2, Garcia 1-1 0-0 2, Ochs 0-0 2-2 2, Totals 13-46 (4-25) 7-10 37
WAC BOYS
Great Bend 5-0 15-1
Hays High 3-1 8-7
Dodge City 2-2 5-11
Garden City 1-3 3-12
Liberal 0-5 3-14
2-11—Lakin 77, Liberal 46
2-13—Great Bend 75, Dodge City 37
2-14—Great Bend at Garden City; Liberal at Hays
2-17—Hays at McPherson
PANTHERS 49, DODGE CITY 45 — Great Bend's girls built a 14-point lead with spectacular basketball before surviving Dodge City's 3-point attack with a hard-fought 49-45 Western Athletic Conference basketball victory.
Alyssa McCauley, Meredith Mazouch and Cassie Ellegood each converted a pair of free throws to stop Dodge City's rally. McCauley converted 2 of 6 late, but made her final free throw for a 49-45 lead.
The Panthers outscored the Red Demons 14-6 from the free throw line to offset Dodge City's 27-9 advantage from long range.
"Our girls wanted to win tonight," said Great Bend coach Jade Winter. "They weren't going to let Dodge take it away without a fight."
McCauley led the Panthers with a trio of 3-pointers, 14 points and several assists.
McCauley dished to Ellegood and Chayla Prendergast for back-to-back assists and earned a hockey assist after a give-and-go pass from Ellegood to Meredith Mazouch.
Jillian Reimer scored a career high 11 points and slowed down Red Demon 3-point shooter Addisyn Taylor after halftime.
The Panthers built a 26-12 lead with dominant play before getting outplayed in the final 19 minutes.
"We needed to go out fast and continue to build on it," Winter said. "We got complacent because we were winning. We allowed them to scrap back."
Defending the 3-pointer has been a defensive flaw for the Panthers, but Reimer helped limit Taylor to one 3-pointer after three first-half trifectas.
Taylor scored 18 points and Emily Gutierrez added 13 points, as they combined for eight 3-pointers.
"Jill outworked whoever she guarded tonight," Winter said "She's one of our best defenders. She played hard on defense, denied and fought through screens. I'm glad her offensive game came alive."
The Panthers (5-11, 1-4 WAC) earned their first WAC victory and kept their hopes alive to move up from the 15th seed and avoid a first-round showdown with No. 4 ranked Hays High, the odds-on WAC champion.
Great Bend 18 11 6 14 — 49
Dodge City 5 16 9 15 — 45
GREAT BEND (5-11, 1-4) (FG 3 FT TP)—McCauley 4-7 (3-5) 3-8 14, Reimer 4-5 3-6 11, Ellegood 3-10 3-3 9, Prendergast 2-4 1-2 5, Bryant 2-7 0-0 4, Meredith Mazouch 1-4 2-2 4, Mayers 0-0 1-2 1, Katherine Mazouch 0-4 (0-1) 1-2 1, Totals 16-41 (3-6) 14-25 49
DODGE CITY (1-15, 0-4) (FG 3 FT TP)—Taylor 7-18 (4-12) 0-1 18, Gutierrez (4-11) 1-2 13, Piper Mellinger 3-9 (1-3) 4-5 11, Torrez 1-4 (0-1) 1-2 3; Bell 0-2 (0-1) 0-0 0, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Durler 0-1 0-0 0, Steiner 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 14-44 (9-28) 6-10 45
WAC GIRLS
Hays High 4-0 15-0
Liberal 4-1 12-5
Garden City 2-2 8-7
Great Bend 1-4 5-11
Dodge City 0-4 1-15
2-11—Liberal 67, Lakin 33
2-13—Great Bend 49, Dodge City 45
2-14—Great Bend at Garden City; Liberal at Hays
2-17—Hays at McPherson
