BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
You know that Premer kid at Great Bend is pretty special.
Panther Alec Premer enjoyed the type of breakout game that Great Bend coach Kyle Kriegh predicted when the basketball season started.
Premer pitched a perfect game making eight consecutive field goals and four free throws for a flawless 21-point night that sparked a shocking 91-66 rout of Dodge City Tuesday.
"It's been a fun ride with my brother (Ian Premer) giving me tips," Alec said in a radio interview. "It was fun. The more you play, the more the team trusts you to get you the ball. It's been awesome growing in my role."
The Fieldhouse was rocking from start-to-finish thanks to a perfect offensive start. Great Bend scored on an unbelievable 16 consecutive possessions in the first quarter. When the Panthers missed four times, they converted second-chance points four times for a shocking 31-15 first quarter lead.
Great Bend's perfection ended when Daxton Minton drew an offensive foul on the final play of the first quarter.
"We were a well-oiled (offensive) machine," Kriegh said. "Alec had a great first-half. We want to shoot high percentage shots and get all our guys shooting layups. We played inside-out. We'll keep working."
Jacob Hall scored 20 points with Cooper Ohnmacht (12) and Tavon Stroup (11) hitting double figures with Minton (9) and Jaxon Wondra (8) one score away from getting six players in double digits.
The home crowd's two loudest roars were reserved for Ohnmacht and "Instant Offense," Eli Contreras.
Ohnmacht's flying slam dunk got the Panthers' student crowd off their feet. When Contreras drilled a step-back 3-pointer, it provided a perfect ending.
Kriegh crafted a flawless game plan with a fast pace, quick sets and flawless passing and picks away from the basketball. The Panthers converted 31 of 45 field goals (69%), 5 of 8 on 3-pointers (62%) and 24 of 37 free throws (65%).
Dodge City's Ty Scheck torched the Panthers for 27 points off 9 of 15 sharpshooting. The Panthers (10-8, 3-1 WAC) earned the last laugh when Daxton Minton and Javon Price stripped Scheck on back-to-back fourth-quarter steals.
Kriegh's tactic of starting with a trapping defense near half-court paid dividends when steals and deflections sped up Dodge City's offense and led to several transition scores.
The Red Demons (9-9, 1-3 WAC) converted 20 of 48 field goals (42%) and 11 of 21 on 3-pointers (52%).
DODGE CITY GIRLS 47, PANTHERS 41 — Dodge City likely ended Great Bend's hopes of playing postseason basketball with a hard-fought 47-41 Western Athletic Conference basketball victory Tuesday.
No. 16 seed Topeka West (5-13) earned a fifth win 52-16 Tuesday against Lansing. The No. 17 seeded Panthers (3-15, 0-4 WAC) will miss 5A postseason unless they deliver multiple biblical-style upsets after losing to Garden City 67-37, Liberal 74-40 and Hays 61-22 in earlier meetings.
Great Bend never recovered after leaving Dodge City's Emily Gutierrez unguarded for a trio of first-quarter 3-pointers. The Panthers outworked and outhustled the Red Demons 37-31 after trailing 16-4.
The Mazouch sisters played with passion and energy. Meredith Mazouch scored 13 points along with her fearless all-around play. Katherine Mazouch chipped in 11 points. The Panthers missed a golden opportunity with 6 of 17 free throw shooting.
The Panthers closed within 41-37 when Red Demons Emma Bell and Addisyn Taylor scored game-clinching baskets for a 45-37 lead.
"We played too hard to lose that ballgame, but some things showed up that cost us," said Great Bend coach Jade Winter. "We played aggressive and pushed the ball up the court."
Great Bend kicked up their defensive intensity and moved the basketball smoothly after continuing to struggle in the opening quarter. Defensive stopper Baze Hogan shut out Gutierrez after halftime.
"Baze did a fantastic job when he needed to shut down No. 4 (Gutierrez)," Winter said. "It was nice to see the Mazouchs play so well tonight. We need players stepping up like that."
Dodge City 15 17 21 13 — 66
Great Bend 31 27 22 21 — 91
DODGE CITY (9-9, 1-3)—Scheck 9-15 (3-6) 6-8 27; Lembright 5-13 (5-10) 1-2 16; Ochs 2-6 4-4 8; Schulte (2-3) 0-0 6; Presley 1-1 0-0 2; Norris (0-1) 2-4 2; Woods 0-1 0-0 0; Rivero 0-3 0-0 0; Smith 0-4 0-0 0; Mollison 0-0 2-2 2; Totals 20-48 (11-21) 15-20 66
GREAT BEND (10-8, 3-1)—Alec Premer 8-8 (1-1) 4-4 21; Jacob Hall 5-11 (0-2) 10-13 20; Ohnmacht 5-8 (0-1) 2-4 12; Stroup 4-5 (1-1) 2-2 11; Minton 2-3 (1-1) 4-10 9; Jaxon Wondra 3-5 2-2 8 Price 3-3 0-2 7; Contreras (1-1) 0-0 3; Gavin Wondra 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 31-45 (58) 24-37 91
Dodge City 16 10 12 9 — 47
Great Bend 4 16 13 8 — 41
DODGE CITY (8-10, 1-3)—Bell 3-13 5-10 11; Gutierrez 4-15 (3-6) 0-0 11; Taylor 3-10 (1-3) 2-3 9; Mellinger 3-5 (0-1) 1-2 7; Culwell 23 0-0 4 Smith 12 2-2 4; Bogner 0-1 1-2 1; Totals 16-49 (4-11) 11-19 47
GREAT BEND (3-15, 0-4)—Meredith Mazouch 4-9 (1-3) 4-4 13; Katherine Mazouch 4-7 (1-3) 2-3 11; Chayla Prendergast 4-7 0-4 8; Hogan 1-6 (0-1) 2; Alex Mayers 1-9 (1-3) 0-0 3; Ringo 2-8 (0-1) 0-0 4; McCauley 0-6 (0-2) 0-6 0; Totals 16-52 (3-13) 6-17 41
