Lady Buffaloes Suffer Narrow Loss at Dodge City

DODGE CITY, Kan. – There seemed to be a mental fear of playing at Dodge when talking with head coach Jacob Miller throughout the week. For good reason, the Buffaloes hadn’t won against Dodge since February 2019. No Buffaloes player was even close to the varsity level the last time it happened.

Tuesday night saw belief, but also the intensity and competitiveness of a true rivalry game.

The Garden City Lady Buffaloes were defeated in a back-and-forth affair against the Dodge City Lady Demons, 40-37, at The Fieldhouse. The game marked the eighth straight victory for the Lady Demons against the Buffaloes.

“It was give-and-take,” Miller said. “We knew it was going to be a grind game, and the tougher team prevailed tonight.”

The game was truly one of runs throughout, with both teams conjuring up great responses to momentum swings. Garden City (6-6, 0-3 WAC) jumped out to a 7-2 run in the first, which was immediately counteracted by five straight Dodge City points.

Both teams hit lulls in the early stages of the second, causing both teams to go to their talented forwards. Easha Potts would score 14 straight points for Dodge City going into halftime, a tie ballgame at 16.

“We did our job in the first half,” Miller said.

A big reason for Garden City’s success in the middle stages was their eccentric forward, K.J. Pinchon. The sophomore sparked an 8-0 Garden City run, hitting the game-tying free throws as time expired in the first half, then scoring the first four points in the second half.

Once Myah Korf’s layup found its way home, the belief was there from the Buffaloes’ bench.

“K.J. does what K.J. does,” Miller said. “She’s tough as nails, and we’re proud that she’s still out there.”

Dodge City (5-8, 1-1 WAC) had the perfect counteract for the Buffaloes’ spark, responding with a 9-0 run to retake the lead. Piper Mellinger and Potts were both crucial in the second half, with Mellinger going for 10 second-half points.

DCHS won the third quarter, 15-13, and the fourth quarter, 9-8, to just pull away.

“I think we were overthinking everything and let the pressure get to us, instead of playing our brand of basketball,” Miller admitted. “We play best when we’re loose, and free, and not thinking… that’s something we’ll learn as a younger team, and get better on.”

The demons, no pun intended, from season’s past against Dodge City hadn’t quite been exorcized, yet. The key word is still ‘yet’, but Tuesday saw big strides for this group.

The Lady Buffs start a three-game homestand on Thursday night against the Laverne (Ok.) Tigers. Coverage can be found on 99.9 ‘The Rock’ beginning at 5:40 P.M. on the American Implement Pregame Show.

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