GCHS girls topple Great Bend
Story Credit – Brett Marshall/GCHS Athletics
Garden City, KS —When the first quarter of Thursday night’s Western Athletic Conference opener at home against Great Bend came to a conclusion, there may have been just a little angst and frustration for the Garden City Lady Buffaloes and head coach Kelley Snodgrass.
She watched her youthful team gets off to a sluggish start, perhaps mirroring the cold that is expected with the first winter storm of the season on Friday, which resulted in the two schools moving the game up 24 hours in case of blizzard conditions.
But after that offensive engine’s slow ignition, the Lady Buffs heated things up and cruised to a 67-37 triumph over the Lady Panthers. The victory improved their season overall record to 7-3 and got them off to a 1-0 start in the WAC.
“It was a slow start and once again the biggest issue was the rebounding,” Snodgrass said. “We gave them too many second chances and were playing on our heels early.”
Then, it was the second quarter where the lid came off the basket and the Lady Buffs started raining 3-point baskets on the Panthers, hitting on four of them in a run that broke a 16-all tie early in the second and launched them into a 34-21 halftime advantage.
Myah Korf got the long-range barrage started but then it was sophomore Mia Hannagan who bulldozed the Panthers with three treys that capped off a 16-4 run and for the most part the Buffs never looked back.
“Great Bend has some length and that gave us some problems early,” Snodgrass said. “But when the ball goes through the hoop, especially from 3, life is so much easier as a coach.”
Halftime didn’t cool the Lady Buffs one bit as they came out firing on all cylinders again, with Hannagan leading the way with three more of the long-range treys. Freshman Tegan Snodgrass also got into the big bombs with one near the end of the third quarter when the Buffs took a 54-30 lead.
Korf concluded the 3-point onslaught early in the fourth quarter and when the score reached 63-33, the running clock rule kicked in and that kept the score close to that 30-point level. The final tally was 11 3-pointers (or 33 points, nearly equaling the output of Great Bend).
“We got a lot of good inside-outside transition shots and I thought the girls attacked the rim and finished well,” Snodgrass said.
Hannagan finished with a game-high 24 points while Korf and Snodgrass each contributed 11 points to the win. Junior Meredith Mazouch led Great Bend (2-7/0-1) with 8 points.
Statistically, there was a lot to parse through.
The Lady Buffs shot 40.6 percent from the field (26-of-64), breaking it down to 15-of-35 from 2-point (42.9 percent) and 11-of-29 from 3-point range (37.9 percent). Great Bend, meanwhile, hit just 13-of-52 for 25 percent (10/37 and 3/15 from 2 and 3-point range).
Snodgrass’ concern for rebounded was also reflected in the final numbers as Great Bend won the board battle 44-30. The Buffs had 14 offensive and 16 defensive rebounds while Great Bend was 20 and 24.
Livi Meng was the top rebounder for Garden City with 7. Denver Ringo had a game-high 13 boards for the Panthers.
The Buffs recorded 16 assists to 8 for the Panthers and committed just 2 turnovers, a season low, while forcing the Panthers into 19 miscues. The Buffs led in steals, 13-2.
Snodgrass, who was tied for the top assist average in Kansas at 5.4 prior to the game, added 9 to her season total and is now at 58 for a 5.8 average.
The Lady Buffs will have one extra day now due to the schedule change to prepare for their WAC road test next Tuesday (Jan. 13) at Liberal.
“It’s nice to have the one extra day now that we’ve got this one out of the way,” Snodgrass said.
Liberal is 6-2 overall and 0-1 in the WAC, having lost to Hays back in December and then on Tuesday (Jan. 6) at Woodward, Okla. They own wins over Salina South, Campus, McPherson, Wichita North, Emporia and Hugoton.
That Liberal road battle sets up the toughest week of the WAC schedule as the Buffs will host defending conference champion Hays on Friday (Jan. 16). The Lady Indians are 8-1 with their only loss to undefeated Silver Lake, which was the 2025 Class 3A state runner-up to Hesston.
Lady Buffs’ Notes: Two players are among the leaders in statistical categories in Kansas high school girls’ basketball so far this season.
According to MaxPreps.com, sophomore Mia Hannagan was the leader in 3-point baskets made with 33 prior to the Great Bend game. Her 6 made will not hurt her standing as she now has 39 in 10 games.
Freshman guard Tegan Snodgrass also is among the state’s leaders with a 5.4 average per game in assists. She was tied for the top spot heading into the Great Bend game.
WAC Standings: (Through Games of Jan. 8, 2026)
Hays, 8-1/1-0; Garden City, 7-3/1-0; Liberal, 6-2/0-1; Dodge City, 4-4/0-0; Great Bend, 2-7/0-1.
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Western Athletic Conference
Game #1
Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026
At The Garden
GARDEN CITY 67, GREAT BEND 37
Great Bend (37) — M. Mazouch 2 3-4 8, McCauley 3 1-1 7, Prendergast 1 0-0 2, A. Mayers 2 1-2 7, K. Mazouch 1 0-0 2, S. Mayers 3 0-0 6, Ringo 2 1-2 5. Totals 14 6-9 37.
Garden City (67) — Powers 4 0-0 9, Hannagan 8 2-2 24, McDonald 1 0-0 2, Celis 1 0-0 2, Meng 3 2-4 8, Korf 4 0-0 11, Snodgrass 5 0-0 11. Totals 26 4-6 67.
Great Bend (2-7/0-1)…14…7…9…7…–…37
Garden City (7-3/1-0)…14…20…20…13…–…67
3-point goals—Great Bend 3 (M. Mazouch 1, A. Mayers 2); Garden City 11 (Powers 1, Hannagan 6, Korf 3, Snodgrass 1). Fouls—Great Bend 7; Garden City11. Fouled Out–None.
