Lady Demons fall in TOC opener

Bishop Miege’s defense clamped down like a shark against Dodge City for a 63-29 win Thursday in the first round of the 42nd Newton Invitational girls’ basketball tournament at Ravenscroft Gym.

“They are very athletic and they have a lot of length,” Dodge City coach Kelley Snodgrass said. “We didn’t do a very good job in transition defense. They got a lot of easy buckets. They are such a great team. We played better in the second half and that should give us some confidence.”

Courtney Harms led a balanced Miege attack with 11 points. Freshman Kisa Unruh led Dodge City with 13 points.

Six Dodge City turnovers in the first 3:10 of play allowed Miege to lead 8-2. The Red Demons had just two turnovers in the remaining time in the period, but Meige still pressed its advantage. An Ashton Verhulst trey with three seconds left in the period put the Stags up 24-5.

Miege pulled off the press in the second quarter, but still managed to force seven turnovers, leading 47-11 at intermission.

Miege went 20 of 34 from the field in the first half, while Dodge City was five of 16.

Meige made a 13-3 run to start the third quarter. Dodge City scored the last seven points, trailing 60-21. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock.

Miege used its bench in the fourth quarter. Dodge City won the quarter 8-3.

Dodge City plays Kapaun-Mt. Carmel at 3 p.m. Friday in the consolation semifinals.

Miege plays Johnson County rival Olathe Northwest at 6:30 p.m. Friday in the championship semifinals.

“They’ve got five or six six-footers,” Snodgrass said. “They’re going to have a height advantage. We’re going to have to knock down shots from the outside and win the battle of the boards.”

DODGE CITY (6-4) — Armstrong 1 (1) 0-0 1, 5; Williams 2 0-2 0, 4; Unruh 2 (3) 0-0 1, 13; Magouirk 0 0-0 0, 0; Gleason 0 (1) 0-0 1, 3; C.Okoro 0 1-2 1, 1; Buller 1 0-1 2, 2; Sanchez 0 1-2 3, 1; TOTALS 6 (5) 2-7 9, 29.

BISHOP MIEGE (9-2) — Jor.Gonzalez 4 0-0 2, 8; Joh.Gonzalez 2 1-2 1, 5; Mannebach 0 0-0 1, 0; Russell 3 2-2 1, 8; J.Harms 0 1-2 1, 1; Frazier 0 0-0 0, 0; P.Verhulst 2 (1) 0-0 1, 7; A.Verhulst 0 (2) 2-2 0, 8; C.Harms 3 (1) 2-2 1, 11; Tumberger 2 0-0 0, 4; Gillian 0 (1) 0-0 2, 3; Hawthorne 4 0-0 2, 8; Wright 0 0-0 1, 0; TOTALS 20 (5) 8-10 13, 63.

Dodge City;5;6;10;8;—29
B.Miege:24;23;13;3;—63