Basketball Recap: Great Bend Panthers vs. Liberal Redskins
The Great Bend Panthers have been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They fell 52-44 to Liberal on Friday. The result was an unpleasant reminder to Great Bend of the 58-37 loss they experienced in the two teams' previous head-to-head fixture back in February of 2023.
Liberal found their leader in underclassman Shamari Lewis, who almost dropped a double-double on 21 points and nine rebounds. Lewis hasn't dropped below eight rebounds for four straight games. Hailey Contreras was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Great Bend has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 10-5 record this season. As for Liberal, the win was the fourth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 11-4.
Great Bend will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against the Demons at 6:00 p.m. Dodge City will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Kansas Rankings (they are ranked 214th, while the Panthers are ranked 69th). As for Liberal, they will head out on the road to face off against the Buffaloes at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Garden City is out to stop a five-game streak of losses at home.
