Great Bend Post Sports
The Panther team made the long journey west Monday for the Western Athletic Conference Championships in Liberal. Hays won a competitive tournament with 12 points. Dodge City and Garden City each scored eight points to tie as runners-up. Liberal finished with five points in fourth, and the Panthers scored three points to place fifth.
Aiden Stacey picked up one of the three points at No. 1 singles. He opened with an 8-1 win over Liberal but dropped his final three matches to Garden City (8-5), Hays (8-0), and Dodge City (8-1).
The No. 1 doubles team of Kaden Deines and Jacob Parks also garnered a point. The pair also defeated Liberal 8-4 to open action, but lost matches to Garden City (8-2), Hays (8-1), and Dodge City (8-6).
Aaron Ramirez picked up the other Panther point at No. 2 singles. He defeated Liberal 8-4 before dropping an 8-7 (2) thriller to Garden City. He closed out the day with an 8-0 loss to Hays and an 8-2 loss to Dodge City.
Liberal made up most of its points in the No. 2 doubles bracket to secure fourth place as a team. Chason Ramsey and Kaden Pound fell to Liberal 8-1. They lost subsequent matches to Garden City (8-5), Hays (8-1), and Dodge City (8-3).
The Panthers head to Maize South Saturday for Class 5A regional action.