After thirty years of teaching and coaching basketball at Dodge City High School, Dennis Hamilton is retiring. Hamilton is stepping aside from his duties as both a PE Teacher and Head Basketball Coach at the end of the current school year. He will do so as the winningest Head Basketball coach in the 112 year history of Red Demon basketball.

Lady Demons begin postseason

By: John Zetmeir

The Dodge City High School girls basketball team will travel to Wichita Northwest on Thursday night for their sub-state opener in hopes to make it back to the 6A state tournament for the second year in a row.

The Red Demons(6-14) have gotten off to better starts in their last five games.The Dodge City girls have outscored their last five opponents by a combined 64-37 in the first quarter. Now, head coach Kelley Snodgrass wants to see her team take the next step and build off of the strong starts.

“I think we have fixed our starting issue for sure,” Snodgrass said. “They’ve come out with more intensity and we’ve really played better on the defensive end. It’s just getting over that hump of being able to finish in close games.”

Last season the Red Demons had the luxury of playing both of their sub-state games at home. In order to make it to the state tournament this season, Dodge City will have to win road games.

“It’s always good to be at home in front of your home crowd but we’ve actually played better on the road this year,” Snodgrass said. “We’ll just take it one game at a time.”

Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Wichita Northwest.

Demons season ends in Wichita

By John Zetmeir

For the first three quarters of Wednesday night’s first round sub-state match up between the Dodge City High School boys basketball team and Wichita North, the Red Demons looked poised to advance to the second round.

Dodge City did not trail in the game until the final 2 minutes and had four free throw attempts in the final second to try to tie the game but Wichita North stole the 59-57 win by outscoring the Red Demons 20-9 in the fourth quarter.

“We played exceptionally hard again, the group has done it all year,” Dodge City head coach Dennis Hamilton said during a post game radio interview. “You can look at our games and there is possibly two or three where we were just outmanned. Our kids just show a lot of guts and grit and continue to get after it and they did again tonight.”

The Red Demons got off to a fast start by taking an 11-4 lead but whenever Dodge City was able to build a sizable lead, Wichita North chipped away at it.

The Redskins ended the first half on a 9-0 run after trailing 31-20 with 2:11 to play in the first half.

With 7:23 to play in the game, junior Kaden Riekenberg drilled a 3-pointer that put Dodge City up 51-41 but it was over the final 7 minutes that Wichita North became the aggressor.

Wichita North grabbed their first lead of the game just under 2 minutes to play before a steal and layup by junior Luke Gleason gave the Demons the lead with 57 seconds left. A 3-point play by North’s Jonah Carrasco gave the Redskins the two-point advantage with 46 seconds left in the game.

Junior Hunter Heath led Dodge City with 16 points while Riekenberg added nine and senior Thomas Sanchez scored eight. The Red Demons finished 19-of-32 from the field and 13-21 from the free throw line.

Demons remain optimistic

By: John Zetmeir

The Dodge City High School boys basketball team aren’t worried about what their record was through the first 20 games of their season.

As far as the Red Demons (3-17) are concerned, they are 0-0 and have two games potentially against familiar opponents standing between them and a trip back to the 6A state tournament. None of the four teams in Dodge City’s sub-state bracket has a winning record. The best record amongst the group is Wichita North who went 10-10 on the year.

“The grouping of four that we got placed with is something that we feel like we can compete with,” Dodge City head coach Dennis Hamilton said. “Being a three-win team, normally you are getting matched up with a 16-win team or somebody that had a great year.”

On Wednesday night, they will travel to Wichita North for a rematch with the Redskins, who they suffered a 59-48 loss against in the opening round of the Tournament of Champions back in January. In that loss, the Red Demons outscored the Redskins over the final three quarters of the game but falling into an early 21-6 hole was too much for them to climb out of.

“We’ll play with a chip on our shoulder,” Dodge City senior Chris Baker said about the rematch. “We’re going to their place so it would be even sweeter if we get the win there.”

The Red Demons are not looking past Wichita North, but knowing that a third game with Garden City is a possibility with a win on Wednesday is in the back of their minds. If the two Western Athletic Conference teams were to both win their sub-state opener on Wednesday, the Red Demons would travel to take on the Buffaloes on Saturday.

The Buffaloes won both regular season meetings in a pair of close contests.

“It would be great to play Garden in the second round but we’re focused on North right now,” Baker said. “But we definitely want to play Garden next game.”

Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Wichita North.

 

Indians sweep Dodge City on senior night

By: John Zetmeir

HAYS 42, DODGE CITY GIRLS 38

Tuesday night’s matchup between the Dodge City High School girls and the Hays Indians was decided in the final 4 minutes of the game.

Points were tough to come by for both teams on the night but going 3 minutes between scores down the stretch ultimately cost the Red Demons as Hays (11-8, 4-3) escaped with a 42-38 win.

“I felt good going into the fourth quarter,” Dodge City head coach Kelley Snodgrass said. “(Hays) had some players step up and hit some big shots. I think we missed some chippy ones that we usually make and it did not fuel our defense, we lost them in transition. Hays came out and they wanted it.”

Freshman Brooke Denning made two 3-pointers in the final 4 minutes and 10 seconds on Tuesday night which included one with 1:37 to play that gave the Indians a 38-35 lead. Kallie Leiker followed with a pair of free throws that grew the Indians’ lead to 40-35.

“That’s what (Denney) is in there for,” Hays head coach Kirk Maska said. “Her defense is getting better. I keep saying it but we’re learning our roles.”

A 3-pointer from senior Tia Bradshaw was the Red Demons only basket in the final 3:17 of the game.

Bradshaw helped the Red Demons get off to a quick start as she scored the team’s first five points of the game. Dodge City held a 10-3 lead before Hays answered with a 13-0 run of its own. The lead changed hands five times on Tuesday night to go along with four scoring ties.

Dodge City (6-13, 2-5) will finish its season at Liberal on Thursday.

HAYS 48, DODGE CITY BOYS 39

Dodge City stayed within striking distance for most of the night against Hays but the Indians pulled away in the final 2 minutes to escape with a 48-39 win.

After struggling for most of the night, Hays senior Shane Berens helped bring the game home for the Indians (13-6, 5-2) as he scored all of his game-high 12 points in the final eights minutes of the game. A 3-pointer by Berens extended Hays’ lead to 38-33 with 3:10 to play in the game. The senior forward scored four more points for Hays to push their lead to 42-35 with 2 minutes to play.

“Shane is a guy that’s been clutch for four years,” Hays head coach Rick Keltner said. “Nothing he does surprises me too much.”

Friday’s game in Dodge City was the sixth road game in a seven-game stretch for the Indians.

In the final 2 minutes of the third quarter, the Red Demons took their first lead since the first quarter when freshman Beau Foster and senior Chris Baker knocked down 3-pointers as part of a 7-0 Dodge City run. Berens answered the run with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Indians a 29-28 lead going into the final quarter.

The Red Demons forced 10 turnovers in the first half but could only get Hays to turn the ball over four times after the halftime break. Dodge City finished with 23 turnovers.

‘They forced us into a lot of turnovers,’ Dodge City head coach Dennis Hamilton said. ‘Even in the first half. We didn’t get them to turn the ball over as much but when Berens hit the three and the 12-foot jump hook we had to start fouling.’

Dodge City (3-16, 1-6) will travel to Liberal on Thursday.

Hays girls – 8 11 8 15 – 42

Dodge City – 10 8 11 9 – 38

Hays – Schneider 11, Denning 10, Robben

7, Dale 4, Leiker 4, Keller 4, Hutchinson 1, Nunnery 1. 14/29, 6/11 3PT, 7/12 FT. 42

Dodge City – Bradshaw 20, E. Okoro 5, Maple

5, Morales 4, C. Okoro 2, Nelson 2. 14/48, 3/10 3PT, 7/12 FT. 38

Hays Boys – 12 7 10 19 – 48

Dodge City – 9 8 11 11 – 39

Hays – Berens 12, Kyles 11, Murphy 9, McCrae 6, Swayne 5, Kieffer 3, Hill 2. 17/51, 7/24 3PT, 7/10 FT. 48

Dodge City – Heath 9, Baker 8, Unruh 5, Gleason 5, Sowers 5, Foster 3, Sanchez 2, Johnson 2. 16/36, 3/12 3PT, 4/7 FT. 39