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GBHS hosts Dodge tonight on Hall of Fame night
Dakota Ellis
Dakota Ellis of Great Bend High School buries a jumper over Liberals Jade Cathey during their WAC game two weeks ago in Great Bend. - photo by Mack McClure Great Bend Tribune

By MACK McCLURE

mmcclure@gbtribune.com

There will be Hall of Fame ceremonies tonight at Great Bend High School’s Panther Fieldhouse, when the Panthers host Dodge City in Western Athletic Conference basketball action.

Tipoff for the girls game is set for 6, with the boys following at around 7:45. Hall of Fame ceremonies, featuring Jenny Allford (music educator) and Glen Opie (community service), will be held between the two games.

Dodge City, the defending conference champions on both the boys and girls sides, currently lead the WAC in both the boys and girls standings.

The Red Demons are 13-2 overall and unbeaten in three conference games, while the Lady Demons are 11-4, 3-0.

Great Bend’s boys (9-7, 3-2) are currently tied for second place in the WAC with Liberal (9-7, 3-2). Those two schools meet Saturday night in Liberal.

In their previous meeting, back on Jan. 13 in Dodge City, the Demons pulled away for a 68-41 victory over GBHS.

Dodge, which made it to the Class 6A state tournament last season, losing in the opening round, did not have standout Rico Hogan. The junior guard did not play against Great Bend because of a concussion he sustained earlier in the season against Garden City, but has since returned to the lineup after getting cleared to play.

Returning starting guard Trey Hallman scored only six points and post player Brandon Howarth scored only two points during the first meeting.

But senior guard Benito Sotelo scored a career-high 20 points, hitting four of Dodge’s seven 3-pointers, and power forward Bruce Campbell scored 11 points in that game.

The Panthers were led by senior guard Cameron Casey and senior swingman Dakota Ellis with 10 points apiece. Casey had three 3s and Ellis added a pair, although DCHS built on a 37-29 halftime lead after the game was tied at 16 after one quarter.

Great Bend is coming off a 52-46 home win over Garden City last Friday night.

Like the Panthers, Great Bend’s girls (6-10, 3-2) are currently vying for second place behind DCHS in the WAC standings.

Hays, whom Great Bend plays a week from today in the regular-season finale, is 3-1.

 

HALL OF FAME — A graduate of Great Bend High School in 1944, Opie received his Bachelor of Science degree at Northwestern University (1950) and received his JD Law Degree at the University of Kansas (1954), upon where he was admitted to the bar and practice: United States District Court and Kansas Supreme Court (2002). He was elected as the chairperson for the Great Bend Kilby Memorial Committee in (2001-2011). During the early years, Opie was Drum Major at Northwestern and KU, and was a volunteer staff and avid supporter of Great Bend Argonne Regbels Drum and Bugle Corps and a winner of three straight national championships (1971-72-73). … Allford, a graduate of Kermit (Texas) High School in 1949, received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Texas Tech University in 1953. She taught vocal music at Roosevelt Junior High School in Great Bend from 1969-1978 and served as Director of Vocal Music at Great Bend High School, consistently receiving superior ratings. From 1997-2009, Allford organized and directed the Creatures of Habitat, a choir of 30 area PEO members who performed locally.