BY JIM MISUNAS
DODGE CITY – The fourth-ranked Dodge City Red Demons girls are a legitimate 6A state power. The unbeaten Demons feature size and strength inside combined with aggressive defense and superior outside shooting.
The talent-laden Red Demons rolled past the Great Bend Panthers 63-21 in Tuesday’s Western Athletic Conference basketball game.
Versatile Camree Johnson scored 18 points and Kisa Unruh contributed 14 points and four 3-pointers. Amaya Perez added nine points. The Red Demons (8-0, 2-0 WAC) scored 29 points by converting 25 Panther turnovers.
It was too much talent for the undersized Panthers (4-5, 0-3 WAC) to handle.
But the Panthers never backed down and played with tremendous effort, especially on the boards. Ashlyn Harbaugh scored six points. Sadie Spray contributed five points and two steals. The Panthers shot 25 percent on 6 of 25 shooting with 25 turnovers.
Dodge City knocked down seven 3-pointers against a mix of Panther defenses which kept them guessing.
“We tried some different defenses to throw them off, but they’re a good team that shoots the heck out of the basketball<’ said Great Bend coach Cindy Beck.
Beck said the scouting report indicated that Kisa Unruh was an accurate 3-point shooter. But the defense lost her a few times.
“Unruh is a good shooter, but we have to know where she is,” Beck said. “They got what they were looking for.”
The Red Demons’ quickness and quality guard play prevented the Panthers from playing fullcourt defense.
“The frustrating part if they have a lot of quickness, and we like to pressure,” Beck said. “We like to come out aggressive defensively.”
As the game wore on, the Panthers were more effective breaking down Dodge City’s defense. But it took a lot of consistent effort and court awareness. The Panthers worked for quality shots, several which didn’t drop.
“We started hitting the middle of their defense, but we got frustrated,” she said. “We’ve got to learn from this. You’ve also got to put the basketball in the hole.”
The Panthers travel next week for a three-day tournament against qualify 5A/6A teams.
Great Bend 5 7 8 1 – 21
Dodge City 18 19 16 0 – 63
GREAT BEND (4-5, 0-3)—Unruh 0-5 2-4 2, Warren 0-1 1-2 1, Harbaugh 1-1 4-6 6, Latham 0-5 1-2 1, Kaiser 1-30-0 2, Kaiser 2-5 0-2 4, Hall 0-1 0-0 0, Spray 2-4 0-0 5, Totals 6-25 8-16 21
DODGE CITY (9-0, 2-0)—Johnson 5-8 7-7 18, Kisa Unruh 5-8 0-0 14, Becca Unruh 2-80-0 5, Gutierrez 1-2 2-4 5, Clark 1-1 0-0 2, Gonzalez 1-2 2-2 4, Perez 3-5 3-4 9, Gleason 0-2 0-0 0, Solis 3-4 0-0 6, Totals 21-40 14-18 63
3-pointers—GB 1-9 (Spray 1-1, Smith 0-1, Kaiser 0-1, Latham 0-2, Unruh 0-4); DC 7-19 (K. Unruh 4-6, Gutierrez 1-2, Johnson 1-2, B. Unruh 1-5, Gonzalez 0-1, Perez 0-1, Gleason 0-2). Rebounds—GB 20, DC 25 (Jonson 4). Assists—Gb5 (Unruh 3); DC 17 (B. Unruh 4, Gleason 4). Steals—GB 4 (Spray 2, Kaiser 2); DC 13 (Johnson 3)
