February 21, 2025

Conquistadors gets big sweep over Cowley

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Wednesday night’s basketball contests at Dodge City Community College were headlined by a No.5 ranked team in the NJCAA rankings in each game. The Dodge City women, who narrowly avoided an upset from the Cowley Tigers, and the Cowley men, who could not fend off a hungry Dodge City team.

The women’s game was close from start to finish, as the game included eight lead changes and eight ties. The game turned Dodge City’s way after a costly technical foul was picked up by the Tigers who were leading 56-54 with 1:02 to play. The technical foul occurred after a common foul and gave the Conquistadors four free throw attempts and the ball afterwards. Dodge City made three of the four attempts, and then made two more after being fouled on the ensuing possession.

Dodge City led by three all of the sudden, but the Tigers managed to tie it back up at 61 with 23 seconds to play. Dodge City turned to Shorna Preston on the last possession, and she managed to get to the free throw line where she made one of two. Cowley came up empty to try and win the game, and fouled Dodge City one more time, but it was too late. Dodge City survived the upset scare with the 64-61 victory.

The Conquistadors were led in scoring by Preston, as she had 20 points and seven rebounds. Konstantina Mantziori matched her season high with 15 points, and Layla-J Cameron made the technical free throws down the stretch to contribute to her 13-point performance.

In the men’s game it was apparent that Dodge City was going to give the No. 5 Tigers problems early, as they led by as many as 11 in the first half. The Tigers managed to pull within three with 14 minutes to play, but the Conquistadors controlled the game from that point forward, coming out on top 100-75.

Both Derrick Rivers and Keshawn Brown Jr. had season-highs, scoring 28 and 24 points respectively. Mynor Strong, the season leader in points, contributed 20 to the winning effort, along with Jayse Boatwright scoring 16.

The upset gives the Conquistadors fuel for the end of the season, as their only hope at a national tournament bid would be to win the Region 6 Tournament. A 25-point win over the team at the top of the standings should be a confidence booster as the Conquistadors continue to get better before the end of the regular season.

Both Conquistador teams have a tough task ahead of them on Saturday, as they will go to the Power Plant to take on Butler, as the women are receiving votes, and the men are ranked No. 15.