With one more Western Athletic Conference basketball game under their belts than defending champion Dodge City, the Great Bend Lady Panthers have the early lead in the conference standings with a 2-0 record.
Dodge City (5-1 overall, 1-0 WAC), which is ranked No. 6 in the latest Kansas Basketball Coaches Association poll, awaits Great Bend tonight at 6 at the DCHS Fieldhouse. Last season, the best season in Red Demons history, Dodge went undefeated in conference play on the way to a Class 6A state tournament berth and eventual fourth-place finish.
“They have had all week to prepare for us,” said Great Bend head coach Jason Tatkenhorst of Dodge City, which owns a 5-1 record. The Class 6A Demons were shocked by 3A Larned 46-42 last Friday night in their most recent game, snapping a five-game winning streak.
“Anybody that knows about the teams in the WAC, they know that Dodge City is definitely the favorite, but somebody has to go give them a good game in the WAC and here’s our shot.
“We ought to be feeling good about ourselves. We’re planning on going out there and getting after it and see what happens.”
Only two-thirds of Dodge City’s Big 3 return this season in senior post player A’zlynn Thompson and wing-shooting senior southpaw Brenna Briggs, both first-team all-conference performers. The notable absence is the WAC Player of the Year in shooting guard Valerie Ortiz, who graduated last spring.
The Demons lost a dynamic in the high-scoring Ortiz, but guard Kesha Buckner, an all-conference honorable mention pick, lends quickness and stability to the backcourt.
Another perimeter threat besides Briggs, the daughter of DCHS head coach Justin Briggs, is senior guard Ashley Stephenson. Briggs scored 16 points and Stephenson and Buckner scored 12 points apiece last Friday during the loss to Larned.
Thompson, meanwhile, was plagued by foul trouble throughout in the Larned game and finished just two points. When there isn’t her presence, the Demons’ interior game gets exposed.
Great Bend got some big baskets from senior forward Jordan Haney, who scored a team- and season-high 13 points during a 51-48 victory over Hays on Tuesday night at Panther Fieldhouse.
The Lady Panthers also got some big free throws from senior guard Jennifer Allende, who sank 3 of 4 in the final 1:21. Haney and junior post player Liz Kutina were also 3-for-4 at the line. As a team, they converted 16 of 24.
During the win at Garden City last Friday, Allende scored a career-high 11 points. Against No. 7-ranked McPherson, Kalie LeShore scored a season-high 14 points during a road loss.
“Liz Kutina scored 11 points for us in one game and Kalie LeShore gets 14 and then we go out to Garden City and Allende gets 11.
“It’s somebody different each time. The point is, somebody on our team is making shots and getting to double digits. That was something that we were missing the first three or four games.”
