The Dodge City girls basketball team has gone virtually unchallenged during Western Athletic Conference play this season. That continued on Friday night when the Red Demons beat the Great Bend Panthers 57-34 to win their second consecutive WAC title.
The Red Demons (13-5, 6-0) were happy to win another WAC title but they know that the job is not done yet. The Dodge City girls have won 16 straight WAC games and with two conference games remaining, the opportunity for a second undefeated season in conference play is still on the table.
“(Going undefeated) is definitely a goal but we have to take it one game at a time,” Dodge City head coach Kelley Snodgrass said. “Liberal and Hays have gotten much better. We’ll have to be ready and play at our best.”
Dodge City started the game on an 11-2 and never looked back. A 3-pointer from Brianna Bradshaw pushed the Red Demons’ lead to 16-4 with two minutes to go in the first quarter and Great Bend (10-7, 5-2) was never able to cut it to single digits.
“They were ready,” Snodgrass said about her team. “Defensively we got stops and we hit some big shots. (Bradshaw) did a good job of hitting from the outside early. We made the extra pass and found our teammates.”
When the two teams met in their WAC opener back in January, Dodge City beat the Panthers 52-36. That day, Great Bend was without standout senior Lauren Welsch. On Friday, Welsch’s presence nearly went unnoticed.
The Red Demons defense held the senior guard to five points in the first half and 12 points total. Dodge City also held sophomore Carley Brack to five points.
“I think all of my guards did a good job on those two defensively,” Snodgrass said. “Brack is a great shooter and Lauren Welsch is a lot to handle.”
Senior Baily Shelor led Dodge City with 13 points. Just behind her was junior Tia Bradshaw with 11 points and Brianna Bradshaw with 10.
DODGE CITY BOYS 70, GREAT BEND 46.
The Great Bend Panthers put up a fight for three quarters but a 19-0 Dodge City run over the first five minutes of the the fourth quarter secured a 70-46 Dodge City win.
