Lady Demons secure WAC title on Unruh’s last-second 3, boys win shootout at Liberal

In the girls game, Unruh’s 3-pointer was the fifth triple in her game-high 19-point performance. She and Potts (11 points) were the only two players to reach double figures for either team in the contest.

The win gives Dodge City an unlikely WAC title. They finished 19-4 last season, but didn’t get any part of the championship–and yet this year’s .500 team was able to sweep the season series with Liberal and win the “championship” game in thrilling fashion at the last second.

Dodge led by as many as 13 points in the third quarter, but Liberal went on an 11-1 run to cut that down and briefly take the lead. The Demons came storming back and was able to successfully bleed the clock out on the last possession–something Liberal failed to do in their loss to Dodge City in January–and cap it with Unruh’s game-winning bucket.

Dodge City scored 20 points off of Liberal’s 15 turnovers in the contest, which was once again stymied by the Demons’ 2-3 zone.

The Lady Demons finish the regular season 10-10 (6-2 WAC) and will learn their sub-state opponent Saturday at 10 a.m.

In the boys game, Dodge City had to stave off a furious Liberal rally in the closing seconds, with three potential-game-tying 3-pointers missing the mark for the Redskins.

Thursday’s game featured nine ties and four lead changes, all of which came in the second half. Liberal took its first lead with 1:35 left in the third quarter.

The contest was marked by a choppy, start-and-stop pace. The two clubs combined to attempt 68 free throws, with Dodge City taking 48 of those.

Isaiah Taylor scored a career-high 24 points for the Red Demons. The bulk of his production happened at the foul line, with Taylor hitting 15-for-21 at the charity stripe. Tristen Buller also finished the game with a career-high 21 points for Dodge City.

Carson Chamberlin led Liberal with 25 points off the bench. Liberal will miss the postseason, ending their year at 2-18.