Lady Demons Drop Fieldhouse Opener to Woodward
DODGE CITY, KS. – Every shrill whistle cost Dodge City on Tuesday night.
Whether it was first-half fouls or offensive fouls, the Red Demons couldn’t overcome the mistakes they made in their midweek matchup.
The Dodge City Red Demons fell in their return home to The Fieldhouse, losing to the Woodward (Ok.) Lady Boomers, 57-44. Dodge City has lost three out of their first four games for the second consecutive season.
Dodge City was coming off an impressive 13-point victory, in which they held Junction City to the lowest total by an opposing team since January 18th, 2021. The game started off that exact same way, with DCHS forcing three Woodward turnovers, including a steal and score by forward Easha Potts to open the game on a quick 6-0 run.
Foul trouble would be a problem all night long, especially for Potts. The senior took her second foul in the early stages of the second quarter, causing her to miss the majority of the frame. Forward Piper Mellinger also got into foul trouble during the period.
“Those are two big pieces to our puzzle defensively,” head coach Kelley Snodgrass said. “We toyed with the idea of going back to [Potts] early, but if she picked up a third, we were sunk.”
This allowed Woodward (1-2) to exploit the Dodge City defense without two of their starters.
The Lady Boomers scored 21 points in the second quarter alone, turning a 9-8 deficit to a 29-20 halftime lead.
“We had some defensive lapses where our rotation was off,” Snodgrass said. “We had key people take key fouls, and we can’t do that.”
Woodward’s Lexi Mendel led all scorers in the first half with 10 points, and kept her foot on the gas in the second half. The guard consistently got to the free throw line, hitting six free throws in the second half.
Mendel led all scorers with 21 points in the victory.
Dodge City (1-3) got a big contribution from one of their freshmen. Guard Jersey Bogner had her breakout game as a Lady Demon, hitting three triples for a career-high 11 points.
“Jersey’s a competitor. She plays hard at both ends,” Snodgrass said. “She’s very versatile… she’s been shooting well from beyond the arc.”
The comeback effort came up short for the Red Demons, turning the ball over six times in the final quarter. Even with a spirited effort by Potts, who scored six of her 12 points in the final quarter, Woodward consistently kept the lead north of nine points.
Dodge City travels to Wichita on Saturday for a matchup with Northwest. Coverage begins on Z98 at 12:40 P.M., with the girls set to tip off at 1:00.
