Manhattan drops Demons
By: John Zetmeir
MANHATTAN 45, DODGE CITY GIRLS 28
For the first half of Saturday’s matchup between the Dodge City High School girls basketball team and the Manhattan Indians, the Red Demons went toe to toe with the No. 3 ranked team in 6A according to the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association.
Dodge City led the Indians 19-16 early in the third quarter before Manhattan responded with a 23-4 run on their way to a 45-28 win.
Senior Tia Bradshaw helped the Red Demons get off to a quick start. The senior guard scored 10 points in the first quarter as Dodge City led 13-7. After not scoring for the first 7 minutes and 20 seconds of the second quarter, Bradshaw scored five points in the final 40 seconds of the second quarter to give Dodge City an 18-16 halftime advantage.
‘We’ve been talking about our start because it hasn’t been great this season,’ Dodge City head coach Kelley Snodgrass said. ‘This start was and a lot of that was due to Tia. She brought some energy and hit some big shots for us. The fact that they held Manhattan to 16 points in a half, that says how good our defense can be when we play with that intensity.’
The scoring well ran dry for the Red Demons in the second half, who made only 2-of-21 shots from the field and 6-of-18 free throws in the final 16 minutes of the game. Manhattan, who struggled offensively in the first half, made 53 percent of their shots from the field in the second half.
Bradshaw led all scorers with 17 points. The Red Demons (4-12, 0-4) will host Garden City on Tuesday in search of their first Western Athletic Conference win of the season.
MANHATTAN 61, DODGE CITY BOYS 33
The Dodge City boys tried to shorten the game down against Manhattan on Saturday but the Indians’ athleticism was too much for the Red Demons.
Manhattan held a 12-point lead at the halftime break before opening the game up with a 14-2 run to start the second half.
During the big run, the Indians did not allow the Red Demons to pass half court for five possessions in row.
Manhattan’s full court press defense was the catalyst to its offense in the third quarter as the Indians outscored the Demons 23-8 in the third.
“We weren’t screening like we needed to, we weren’t cutting like we needed to, we weren’t going to the ball like we needed to, we weren’t getting help from the big guys like we needed to,” Dodge City head coach Dennis Hamilton said. “(Manhattan) is very active. They feed off their defense.”
Junior Hunter Heath was the lone Red Demon to finish in double figures as he led the team with 11 points.
Dodge City (3-13, 1-3) will finish out the regular season with only WAC opponents starting on Tuesday against Garden City.
