At halftime of Friday night’s game versus Nickerson, the Dodge City boys basketball team found themselves down 3 points to a scrappy Nickerson team led by former Red Demon player Curt Field.  If not for a half court 3-pointer at the buzzer by Matt Friess, the Red Demons would have been down 6 entering halftime. 

However, just like the night before – the second half belonged to the Red Demons.  And this time Dodge City completed the comeback in convincing fashion winning 64-48.  The game had (10) lead changes, but only one was necessary in the second half.  When Cooper Loll completed an old fashion 3 point play early in the third quarter to put the Demons up 36-34, Dodge City kept their foot on the gas pedal to secure the win.    

The Red Demons went on an (8-0) run after back to back 3-pointers by Cooper Scheck to stretch the lead to 48-37 at the end of three quarters.  At one point in the second half the Demons were on a 33-11 stretch that ballooned the lead to (19).

Cooper Loll lead all scorers with (17) points, while Matt Friess joined him in double figures with (14).  Dylan Smith, Dawson Taylor, and Loll all finished the game with (4) steals each as Dodge City finished the game with 21 steals on 34 turnovers for the Panthers which led to 32 points for the Demons.  Nine different players scored for the Demons. 

Head Coach Shane Traughber:  “Nickerson did a nice job of slowing us down in the first half with their zone, and we didn’t shoot it well in the first half.  In the second half, we did a much better job of attacking the creases and not settling for perimeter shots.  We are improving every time we play, and we need to finish in a strong way tomorrow against another good opponent in McCook (NE).”

The Red Demons (2-2) will play in the consolation finals against McCook (NE) on Saturday at 4p. 

Camree Johnson poured in a career high 23 points, and Kisa Unruh provided her normal offensive arsenal to propel the Lady Demons to a 64-56 win over #3 (4A) ranked Nickerson on Friday night at the Max Jones Fieldhouse in Goodland.  Unruh matched Nickerson’s highly recruited Ava Jones with (20) points.  However, the Lady Demons defense held Jones to just (3) points in the second half as they pushed the lead to 13 points early in the second half.  Dodge City ran several defenders at Jones forcing Nickerson to try and score from beyond the arc.  Nickerson was 5-18 from the 3-point line while the Lady Demons were 9-25, with 8 of those coming before the half. 

Kisa Unruh started the scoring for the Lady Demons with a 3-pointer on the second possession of the game.  The lead would go back and forth until the waning seconds of the quarter when Johnson scored an old fashion 3-point play just one possession after Alicia Solis drew the Demons even with a layup.  Dodge City would not surrender the lead the rest of the way, and led 38-30 at the intermission.  The Lady Demons won every quarter besides the 3^rd (10-12). 

Statistically, Dodge City was led in assist by Becca Unruh and Victoria Gonzalez with (4), and in rebounding by Solis with (5).  As a team the Lady Demons shot 13 of 16 from the free throw line, 17 assists, with only 13 turnovers for the game. 

Head Coach Kelley Snodgrass:  “Another very good effort by the entire group.  The ladies did a great job of executing our defensive adjustments.  Outside shooting gave us some separation in the first half and our free throw shooting sealed the win.  I am very proud of these young ladies.  Once again I am pleased with 17 assists.  We continue to be unselfish and play hard.”

The #8 ranked (6A) Lady Demons (3-0) advance to the Championship Game and will play the host team – Goodland Cowgirls (4-0) on Saturday night at 6p.  *It will be an all Dodge City final in the 3-point contest as well on Saturday as Kisa Unruh and Camree Johnson will compete against each other earlier in the day.   

When Cooper Loll drained a clutch three pointer with less than 10 seconds left in the game it appeared the Red Demons had completed an impressive fourth quarter comeback against the hot shooting Lakin Broncs.  However, the Broncs had just enough time to answer as Jace Bachman released the ball out of his hand before the buzzer sounded giving Lakin the 72-71 win over the Demons. 

Dodge City came out aggressive – scoring the first twelve points of the game and leading 19-16 after one quarter.  Unfortunately for the Demons, the second quarter ended up being the stretch they could not overcome as they were outscored 19-6 and trailed by 10 at the half. 

Dodge City began their comeback at the 3:00 mark of the 4^th quarter, trailing 66-54.  A Cooper Scheck 3-pointer started the come back and the Demons began getting stops on the defensive end of the floor.  A Matt Friess 3-pointer had Dodge within four points at the two minute mark.  With 52 seconds remaining Scheck hit another three, and Aidan Sowers hit two free throws after a foul was called underneath the basket.  Down only two, Dylan Smith came up with a huge steal that set the stage for the final flurry of events. 

Lauren Gleason hit a jump shot on the first Lady Demon possession to give Dodge City a 2-0 lead against Lakin in the opening round of the Topside Classic in Goodland on Thursday afternoon.  It was a lead they would never relinquish on their way to a 76-30 lopsided win to advance to Friday’s semifinals. 

Gleason led the scoring for the Lady Demons with 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting, including three 3-pointers.  Kisa Unruh turned in a solid 12 points in limited playing time, while Camree Johnson poured in 11 points to join Gleason and Unruh in double figures. 

Every Lady Demon scored in the contest as Dodge City shot 54% from the field for the game and 32% from 3-point range.  Six different players were perfect from inside the arc, including Victoria Gonzalez who finished 4 for 4 (8pts), and Marisela Landa (2 for 2) who also added a 3-pointer to finish with 7 pts.  

Head Coach Kelley Snodgrass:  “I am very proud of these young ladies.  Tonight was another balanced effort with great teamwork – which is how you end up with 23 assists.  We had excellent bench production and unselfish play by everyone.”

The #8 ranked (6A) Lady Demons (2-0) advance to the semifinals and will play Nickerson on Friday at 7p.