By John Zetmeir, Dodge City Daily Globe

The Dodge City High School girls basketball team won their third straight game by 38 or more with a 72-34 win over Cimarron on Friday night.

The Red Demons (5-2) size an athleticism frustrated the Bluejays (6-2) from the opening tip. Dodge City jumped out to a 17-2 lead going into the second quarter, and a 36-10 lead going into the end of the second half.

Dodge City was able to force turnovers that helped to pad their lead early. The Red Demons scored 17 first half points off 17 Cimarron turnovers.

“It’s great team effort,” Dodge City head coach Kelley Snodgrass said. “We played solid defense and we would attribute that to the first half, holding them to just 10 points. Cimarron scores a lot of points so it was great team basketball.”

Seniors Jessica Harshberger and Brianna Bradshaw led the way for the Red Demons, combining for 29 points and seven steals.

“I think we’re just all coming together,” Bradshaw said. “We’re communicating and working together to get those wins.”

Dodge City will face one of their toughest tests of the season when they travel to Central Plains on Tuesday.

DODGE CITY BOYS 62, CIMARRON 49.

The Cimarron Bluejays stayed within striking distance throughout the second half but we unable to get any closer than eight points in the fourth quarter. The Red Demons (4-3) beat the Bluejays (5-3) 62-49, winning their third game in a row.

“(Dodge City) is very talented,” Cimarron head coach Tim Brooks said. “They are big, strong, athletic kids. I think that we figured out tonight that we can play with teams like that.”

The Red Demons took a 34-18 lead after a layup from senior Noah Williams midway through the third quarter. The Bluejays responded with a back to back buckets to help them get back into the game.

Dodge City had four players finish with double-digit point totals. Senior Dayton McGroarty, who scored 19 against Great Bend on Tuesday, scored a teamhigh 20 points against the Bluejays.

“It was a nice team win,” Dodge City head coach Dennis Hamilton said. “Did it happen the way we wanted it to, no. We would’ve like to push 16 (point lead) to 20 and see what happens from there but give Cimarron a lot of credit.”

The Red Demons won the turnover battle 23 to 12 and scored 22 points off of those turnovers. Dodge City will travel to Central Plains on Tuesdayfortheirnextgame.

By John Zetmeir, Dodge City Daily Globe

Dodge City High School girls basketball coach Kelley Snodgrass felt like her team made progress during their winter break. That progress translated into a 72-31 win over Great Bend in the Red Demons Western Athletic Conference opener. Dodge City (4-2, 1-0) will look to start their first winning streak of the season Friday night when they take on the Cimarron Bluejays at United Wireless Arena.

The Bluejays (6-1) are led by senior Korina Bailon. Bailon, the only returning starter from last season’s team that made it to the 3A state championship game, is averaging 15.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

“Cimarron is always tough,” Snodgrass said. “They have a great program over there. They are well coached and they know how to win.”

The Blue Jays got the better of the Red Demons in last year’s meeting but after graduating four seniors, Dodge City could be the toughest test to date for the young Blue Jays.

“This is always a game we look forward to and it is exciting for our team,” Cimarron head coach David Ediger said. “Dodge will present us with challenges we haven’t seen yet. Given the fact that they return everyone from last year and have very good guards to go with solid post players.”

Cimarron’s lone loss this season was to Meade in the Bluejay Invitational. The Bluejays fell to the Buffaloes 41-40.

After a two-game skid, the Red Demons have won their last two game by an average of 44 points.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Friday night at the United Wireless Arena.

Dodge City, Cimarron square off at United Wireless

Boys team hope to keep positive momentum going

By John Zetmeir

Dodge City Daily Globe

After a 1-3 start to the season, the Dodge City High School boys basketball team (3-3, 1-0) head into their matchup against Cimarron looking to keep their positive momentum going.

The Red Demons won their first game of Western Athletic Conference play 63-50 on Tuesday at Great Bend.

“I know it’s only a twogame streak but we do have a little streak going,” Dodge City head coach Dennis Hamilton said. “I’d love nothing more than to extend it but we’re at a pretty good point right now in the season. Our kids have gotten competitive in practice and in games and that’ll take you a long ways.”

The Bluejays (5-2) provide a unique challenge to the Red Demons, not only with their size and athleticism but with the familiarity between their two head coaches.

“The programs are going to mirror each other for obvious reasons,” Hamilton said. “Coach (Tim) Brooks was on our staff for 13 years and he played basketball for me in high school. He’ll have some wrinkles and we’ll probably have a few wrinkles.”

Junior forward Nick Ast leads the Bluejays in scoring, averaging 15 points per game. Fellow forward Jaylen Pickle is not far behind Ast, averaging 12 points per game. The sophomore is also leading the team with 10 rebounds per game.

For the Red Demons, senior forward Noah Williams had his best game of the season in Dodge City’s win over Great Bend. Williams scored 22 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The team’s leading scorer, Dayton McGroarty, scored 19 points against the Panthers on Tuesday.

“Dodge is playing well now and are very well coached,” Brooks said. “They are balanced offensively with a good inside-out combination of Williams and McGroarty. We will have to be at our best to come out with a win.”

The boys are scheduled to tipoff following the conclusion of the girls game on Friday night at the United Wireless Arena.

Demons take both games at Great Bend, face off against Cimarron next

By John Zetmeir

Dodge City Daily Globe

The Dodge City High School girls basketball team, last season’s Western Athletic Conference champions, showed why they are the favorite to repeat as conference champions in their first game of WAC play.

The Red Demons (4-2, 1-0) beat Great Bend 72-31 in a game that was never in doubt after a strong start propelled Dodge City past the Panthers.

A 10-0 run helped the Red Demons jump out to a 20-6 lead in the first quarter.

After taking a 37-22 lead into the halftime break, Dodge City locked down the Panthers in the second half, allowing just nine Great Bend points after the halftime break. Great Bend was just 9-of-38 from the field in the game.

“It tells us that we can defend,” head coach Kelley Snodgrass said during her post game radio interview. “I said all along that we have to hang our hats on defense and we won the battle of the boards by close to 20. Those are two things that we can do day in and day out.”

Dodge City shot 31-of-65 from the field and outrebounded the Panthers 46 to 28. Four Red Demons tallied double-digit points with senior Jessica Harshberger leading the team with 23-points.

DODGE CITY BOYS 63, GREAT BEND 50.

The Red Demons used a strong third quarter performance to dig a hole that was too deep for Great Bend to climb out of in their WAC opener.

Dodge City won their conference opener 63-50 over the Panthers on Tuesday night.

The Red Demons outscored Great Bend 14-4 over the first six minutes of the third quarter to give Dodge City a 39-23 lead.

After cutting Dodge City’s lead down to 56-46, the Panthers ran out of gas down the final stretch of the fourth quarter.

The Red Demons (3-3, 1-0) were led by senior Noah Williams The 6-foot-6 senior forward finished with a season-high 22 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Dayton McGroarty was not far behind, finishing with 19 points.

The battle for the boards was fairly one-sided in Dodge City’s favor on Tuesday night.

The Red Demons outrebounded the Panthers 39-17. Their 17 offensive rebounds lead to 15 second chance points for Dodge City.

Both teams will be back in action on Friday when they square off with Cimarron at the United Wireless Arena.