Demons host McPherson after layoff
By John Zetmeir
Dodge City Daily Globe
The Dodge City High School basketball teams will be back on the court Friday night when they host McPherson.
The girls team heads into thematchupaftercompeting in the Newton Invitational last weekend. The Lady Demons(8-5)losttwooftheir three contests in Newton.
Dodge City was without senior guard Brianna Bradshaw, who has missed the RedDemonslastfourgames. While the Red Demons have depth, head coach Kelley Snodgrass said that Bradshaw’s absencehasbeenfelt.
“We were missing Bri,” Snodgrasssaid.“(Bradshaw) brings a lot of confidence, fight and determination for us.”
The Red Demons will play three games in five days startingonFridayafterTuesday’s gamewithGardenCity wasrescheduledtoMonday.
“We are prepared for it from last weekend,” Snodgrass said. “Playing three in a row, it gets you ready for postseason and tournament time but it is still tough on the legs.”
The Dodge City boys, who have lost five of their last six games, will face another high-caliber team on Friday when they host the defending 4A-Division-I state champions.
“This is a very good opponent,” head coach Dennis Hamilton said. “McPherson is as rich in tradition in basketball as anyone in the state of Kansas. Year in and year out they’re a factory.”
Dodge City (5-8) has been in games until the very end more times than not this season. The Red Demons have lost five of the eight gamesbyeightpointsorless. Three of those losses have come by five points or less.
Hamiltonsaidthathisteam hasstruggledtoreboundand handle the ball late in games when fatigue sets in. Hamilton is still optimistic for his senior-laden team as they head down the final stretch of the season.
“We’re still a pretty good 5-8 team, I believe that,” Hamilton said. “Regardless of what our record ends up going into sub-state, someone’snotgoingtowant to play us. We’ll use this as a stepping stone. We haven’t backed down from Manhattan, Maize or any of those types of teams. Our kids are competitors.”
The girls are scheduled to tipoff against McPherson at 6 p.m. at Dodge City High School on Friday night with the boys game following.
