Demons’ depth wears down Panthers
BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
Great Bend was down three players due to injury and was poised to continue to pressure the Dodge City Red Demons.
The Panthers sliced an 11-0 opening salvo and Sam Hall ‘s basket capped a 17-6 scoring run for a 23-17 deficit right before halftime.
The next play swung momentum back Dodge City’s way.
The fiery Hall was right in the middle of it. Hall drove hard to the basket and was spun to the floor by a Dodge City defender. Hall hit his hand on the floor out-of-bounds and was quickly tagged with a technical that granted the Demons an extra possession. Dodge City ended the half ahead 29-19 when it appeared the Panthers carried brief momentum in a 63-36 Western Athletic Conference basketball loss to the Red Demons.
“Had he scored that basket, it’s done to four, but it didn’t go our way,” said Great Bend coach Tim Brooks. “You can’t slap the floor and react like that. The official is thinking he’s getting showed up.”
The Panthers (4-12, 1-5 WAC) outplayed the Red Demons for 11 minutes after trailing 11-0 when Cooper Scheck hit a pair of 3-pointers and Dawson Taylor scored two second-chance baskets. The Panthers turned the trick without injured starter Joseph Moeder and key reserves Paco Hernandez and Cayden Scheuerman, who played 10 seconds before injuring his wrist.
“Our guys stepped up and matched their intensity,” Brooks said. “We fought defensively and got Dodge out of their game. We played with a lot of energy.”
Sage Koelsch scored six points and Cal Dunekack added four points in the spurt.
But Dodge City (10-6, 4-2 WAC) erased any drama with a 15-0 scoring burst to end the third period ahead 50-27. Dunekack and Cole Streck hit 3-pointers and Dunekack added a 2-pointer for a 35-27 deficit. But Smyth and Scheck each scored two baskets to spark the 15-point run.
Dunekack scored 11 points and Sam Hall, Streck and Koelsch each added seven points.
Dodge City outscored the Panthers 22-4 on points off turnovers, 16-7 on second-chance points and 18-6 on 3-point goals. Aidan Sowers scored 11 points and Scheck added 11.
“Dodge is a good basketball team with guys who do a lot of things well,” Brooks said.
Dodge City 19 10 21 13 – 63
Great Bend 7 12 8 9 – 36
DODGE CITY (10-6, 4-2)—Sowers 4-7 3-5 12, Scheck 4-8 0-0 11, Cooper Loll 3-6 3-4 9, Friess 3-10 1-2 7, Dawson Taylor 3-5 1-2 7, Smith 2-6 0-1 5, Chavez 1-1 0-0 3, Barajas 2-2 0-0 4, Schulte 1-2 1-2 3, Sanchez 0-0 2-2 2, Blain Loll 0-2 0-0 0, Isaiah Taylor 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 23-52 11-18 63
GREAT BEND (4-12, 1-5)—Koelsch 2-6 3-5 7, Dunekack 5-10 0-0 11, Sam Hall 2-3 3-3 7, Streck 3-8 0-0 7, Spray 1-5 0-0 2, Regehr 1-2 0-0 2, Council 0-3 0-0 0, Matthew Moeder 0-1 0-0 0, Parsons 0-1 0-0 0, Dominquez 0-1 0-0 0, Jerke 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 14-41 6-11 36
3-pointers—DC 6-23 (Scheck 3-7, Chavez 1-1, Sowers 1-3, Smith 1-5, C. Loll 0-1, B. Loll 0-1, I. Taylor 0-2, Friess 0-3); GB 2-16 (Dunekack 1-2, Streck 1-6, 0-1, Kolesch 0-2, Council 0-3). Rebounds—DC 31 (D. Taylor 7); GB 32 (Dunekack 8). Assists—DC 14 (Friess 4); GB 10 (Koelsch 6). Steals—DC 14 (I. Taylor 3, D. Taylor 3); GB 4. TO—DC 11, GB 22
