Two for two
Demons outlast rival Garden City in Monday night matchup
John Zetmeir
Dodge City Daily Globe
The DodgeCity High School boys basketball team survived a 3-point barrage from the Buffaloes in the first half to beat Garden City 47-41 on Monday night.
Senior guard Jarrod Koster scored all 15 of Garden City’s points during a 15-4 run that gave the Buffaloes a 26-25 lead at halftime.
The senior guard scored 22 of his game-high 26 points in the first half. The Buffaloes made 6-of-12 3-pointers in the first half.
The Red Demons defense was able to disrupt Garden City’s shooting rhythm in the second half, holding the Buffs to just 1-of-14 makes from long range in the final 16 minutes.
“We told our kids at halftime to just continue to stay the course,” Dodge City head coach Dennis Hamilton said. “We felt like Koster couldn’t continue to shoot the way he did and he didn’t. But he didn’t get the looks either, credit to our defense.”
A pair of free throws from Matt Karns gave Dodge City their first lead of the second half with 4:01 to play in the game.
Senior Eric Reid’s second 3-pointer of the game put the Red Demons up 43-39 with just over three-minutes to go. That shot ultimately sealed the win for DodgeCity.
“Eric is our best outside shooter right now,” Hamilton said. “That was a set play to get him a look.”
Senior Dayton McGroarty continued his offensive consistency, finishing with a team-high 17 points. Fellow senior Noah Williams scored seven points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds. The Red Demons won the battle of the boards by out-rebounding the Buffs 38-26.
Dodge City will have a quick turnaround as they travel to Ulysses on Tuesday. It is the Red Demons first back to back game since the Tournament of Champions.
“We expended a lot of energy and emotion tonight but our kids have got to be ready,” Hamilton said. “This is probably one that everybody thinks that we should go win.” DODGE CITY GIRLS 40, GARDEN CITY 32.
The Red Demon girls over came a sluggish first half to beat their conference rivals, Garden City, 40-32 on Monday night.
A 10-0 run 
put Dodge City (10-5, 4-0) ahead 28-24 with 3:14 to go in the third quarter. The Red Demons outscored the Buffs 24-10 in the second half. A big reason for the turnaround was the length of the Red Demons around the basket.
“(Garden City)hit some big threes early,”Dodge City head coach Kelley Snodgrass said. “Give them credit. The girls trusted the offense and got it inside.”
Senior forward Taylor Nichols took command for Dodge City, scoring a team high 17 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
A pair of 3-pointers from Garden City’s Abbie Dart gave the Buffaloes a 14-6 lead midway through the first quarter. The eight-point lead was the largest for the evening for the Buffs. Garden City was 4-of-7 from behind the arc in the first half but were held to 0-of-3 from long range in the second half.
The Red Demons defense ramped up their intensity in the second half, forcing 18 of the Buffs’ 29 turnovers after the halftime break. Garden City turned the ball over 10 times in the fourth quarter.
“We made them throw it away,” Snodgrass said. “It was always out of bounds so we didn’t get a lot of transition buckets, but they still had to set up their defense. Our length gave them trouble.”
The Dodge City girls are scheduled to tipoff at 6 p.m. in Ulysses on Tuesday with the boy’s game following.
