By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Panther fans needed some respite following the Great Bend boys' thrilling win against Bishop Carroll Monday night to open the Class 5A playoffs. The Lady Panthers delivered. At least for most of the night. Great Bend led by 17 points with 13 seconds to play in the third quarter. Salina Central battled back and even had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds before coming up short 46-42.
"I think they just came out and, at that point, they were ready to take over," said Lady Panther senior Emily Hall. "I don't think we were ready for the pressure they brought but I'm glad we were able to find a way to handle it later and finish that fourth quarter for the win."
Hall finished the night with 13 points, but it was her passing game that led to points in the second half. Her assist to senior Sadie Spray with 13 ticks left in the third pushed the Panther lead to 35-18. Central answered with a bounce-in 3-pointer at the buzzer from senior Callan Hall, one of the last players off the Lady Mustang bench. Great Bend was still in command at 35-21 with a quarter to play.
Central got threes from senior Elle Denning and senior Tyler Vidrickson to cap a 9-0 run in a 53-second span to dip into the Panther lead at 35-23 with 7:10 remaining. Hall answered with two more assists to Spray, and senior Makenzie Premer dropped a pass to Hall to bump the lead back to 41-29 with 3:06 remaining.
The Lady Mustangs scored just 21 points through the first three quarters and matched that in the final eight minutes behind seven Panther turnovers. A late turnover resulted in a 3-pointer from Vidrickson to whittle the Great Bend lead to 44-40 with just 21 seconds left.
Hall made one of two free throws on the other end but Central was able to get two points and another turnover in the final seconds to set up a potential game-tying shot. Fortunately, the Mustangs gave it right back, resulting in a Premer free throw make with 0.3 seconds left on the clock to ice the game for good.
Great Bend stormed out to a 15-3 lead in the first six minutes of action thanks to six points apiece from Hall and Spray and a 3-pointer from senior Paige Thexton in the first. Spray was sidelined for most of the second quarter with a second personal foul late in the first.
Central remained competitive in the second quarter in part after grabbing six of the first seven rebound opportunities in the period. Hall turned that around with seven of her eight rebounds on the night coming in the middle quarters.
"It finally clicked that their shots were going long each time and you had to push them back further," Hall said. "They weren't dropping right under the basket. They were going long. They're used to rebounding that way and we're not used to that. Once we were able to figure it out, it really did turn around the game for us."
Denning, Hall, and Saniya Triplett each scored eight points for Salina Central, and Denning grabbed six rebounds.
Spray scored seven of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Denver Ringo added six points, and Thexton and Premer each scored three points.
Great Bend moves to 15-6 on the season ahead of Saturday's substate championship in Emporia on Saturday at 5 p.m. The Spartans (20-1) defeated the Lady Panthers 43-29 on Dec. 15. Emporia defeated Topeka West 65-35 in their first-round playoff game Wednesday.
"It was a good game but we weren't ready for that type of pressure," Hall said. "We've really grown throughout this season and I think we're ready to take them on again."
(Correction: Saturday's substate final in Emporia is at 5 p.m., not 6 p.m.)