Demons come up short against McPherson

Both Dodge City High School basketball teams opened up their season on Thursday night on the road against McPherson. The Bullpups once again will have two very good teams this season, and Dodge City, while coming up on the losing end, will be able to take positives from opening their season with a quality opponent.

In the girl’s game, McPherson came out with full court pressure and made it difficult for Dodge City to get into their offense. The Demons turned the ball over 40 times but also forced the Bullpups into 31 of their own. It was a physical matchup all-around as the final score was 60-41.

Junior guard Addisyn Taylor led Dodge City in scoring with 17 points, including going 7-of-10 from the free throw line. The Demons made three 3-pointers in the first quarter but could only manage one throughout the rest of the game.

A hot start from range was the theme for the Demons in the boy’s game as well, especially from sophomore guard Cru Lembright, as he made scored nine first quarter points, all of which coming from deep.

However, he had to spend a large portion of the first half on the bench with foul trouble, and he was not the exception. Lembright, along with junior guard Ty Scheck, senior forward Anthony Perez and sophomore guard Elliot Williams all were forced to the bench more than they would have liked to have been with foul trouble.

Despite the foul trouble, the Demons found themselves tied with the reigning Class 4A state champions at the start of the fourth quarter. The fourth quarter did not go according to plan, as the ball started to bounce McPherson’s way, along with some outstanding offense from Jett and Gabe Pyle for the Bullpups. The pair finished with 20 and 27 respectively as McPherson won 69-56.

The pair of sophomore guards in Lembright and Williams led the way in scoring for Dodge City with 12 and 11 respectively. Perez scored nine and senior guard Bryson Unzueta was aggressive off of the bench to score nine as well.

Both Demon squads now have an eight-day gap until they host Manhattan, who will come to town on Friday, Dec. 13.