Demon girls blow past Buffs
By: John Zetmeir
DODGE CITY GIRLS 49 GARDEN CITY 29
Slow starts have been an achilles heel for the Dodge City High School girls basketball team this season.
On Saturday against Manhattan, the Red Demons took a step in the right direction by starting quick and taking an early lead. Against Garden City on Tuesday night, the Dodge City girls came out firing in the first quarter on their way to a 49-29 win.
The Buffaloes led 9-5 midway through the first quarter before the Red Demons responded by outscoring their Western Athletic Conference rivals 19-3 over the final 11 minutes and 30 seconds of the first half. Senior Tia Bradshaw was the catalyst for the Red Demons as she knocked down three 3-pointers in the first quarter. Bradshaw finished with a game-high 18 points.
Dodge City head co
ach Kelley Snodgrass felt that the first half effort that the Red Demons had against Manhattan on Saturday was something they carried into Tuesday’s win.
‘They finally have confidence, they know that they can guard some of the best players in the state,’ Snodgrass said. ‘I said now that I’ve seen it, I don’t expect you to take any plays off and they really bought into that.’
Garden City continued its scoring struggles in the second half as the Red Demons raced out to a 35-14 lead after a Bradshaw layup early in the third quarter.
Dodge City got a big scoring boost from senior Kaylyn Maple who scored 10 points which included two 3-point makes. Maple scored the final five points for the Red Demons in the first half that helped extend Dodge City’s lead to 24-12 at the halftime break.
‘Kaylyn has a really nice shot from the outside,’ Snodgrass said. ‘She’s been stepping out and obviously wants to play college ball, so she needs to extend her game and she worked really hard in the offseason.’
Tuesday night’s win over Garden City was the first WAC win of the season for Dodge City (5-12, 1-4). The Red Demons will continue the second leg of conference play on Friday when they travel to Great Bend.
Dodge City boys come up short against Garden City
GARDEN CITY 43, DODGE CITY BOYS 36
Tuesday’s rematch between the Dodge City and Garden City boys basketball teams ended in a similar way to the first meeting in Garden City.
The Red Demons inched their way back from a nine point deficit to make it a one-possession game with 52.2 seconds to play in the game but could not get another basket to fall from that point on while the Buffaloes made their free throws in clutch time. Garden City swept the regular season series with the Red Demons with the 43-36 win.
In the final 3 minutes of the game, the Buffaloes missed two free throws but collected the offensive rebound after both misses to keep Dodge City from cutting into the lead anymore than they did.
‘It really does break you back somewhat,’Dodge City head coach Dennis Hamilton said about the offensive rebounds. ‘That took away two possessions from us and gave them back to (Garden City). That can change the whole complexion of a game going down the stretch.’
The lead changed hands six times in the first half but a 9-2 run by Garden City to start the second half built the Buffaloes lead to 31-22. The Red Demons were only able to muster up six points in the third quarter.
The Red Demons (3-14, 1-5) will travel to Great Bend on Friday. Dodge City’s lone WAC win this season was against the Panthers.
