Dodge City splits season opener with Junction City
DODGE CITY, Kan. — The Dodge City High School Red Demons hosted the Junction City Blue Jays on Friday night at the DCHS Fieldhouse for the 2019-2020 season opener. The Dodge City girls won big, 69-22, while the Red Demon boys fell in the night cap, 73-42.
The Lady Demons jumped out to a 25-0 in the first quarter and never looked back, as Junction City would not get their first points in the game until the 1:41 mark in the opening quarter of play. The Red Demons never looked back from that point on and would cruise to the 47-point win, the largest victory in the series.
Dodge City was led by junior Kisa Unruh, as the guard posted a career-high 32 points and set a new school record with eight made three-pointers in the route. Unruh broke the previous record of seven set by Brenna Briggs in the 2012 season.
“It felt really good,” Unruh said. “I was happy I could break the record and once the first one went in, I knew it was going to be a good night.”
Unruh hit the record-breaking three after a defensive board on the other end, Unruh got the outlet pass, dribbled up the court and nobody stepped out to guard her, so she just stepped in to a three from the top of the key and hit it without a problem. The possession prior to Unruh breaking the record, she assisted a three-pointer made by her younger sister, Becca who scored her first high school points on that basket.
“It was pretty cool to be apart of that,” Unruh said. “I was just praying that she was going to make it and she did.”
The Red Demons took advantage of Blue Jay turnovers, scoring 41 points off of 31 turnovers. Dodge City also made more field goals (25) than Junction City attempted (24) and the Red Demons dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the Blue Jays, 43-22.
Junction City – 4 11 3 4 — 22
Dodge City — 25 21 13 10 — 69
Junction City: Hekekia 1, Rivera 7, Grygier 2, Escobar 5, Davis 7.
Dodge City: B. Unruh 3, Gutierrez 5, Johnson 2, K. Unruh 32, Clark 1, Gonzalez 2, Perez 2, Gleason 8, Okoro 10, Solis 4.
The Dodge City boys hung with the Blue Jays in the first quarter, but that would be about it, as Junction City would cruise to a 73-42 victory over the Red Demons.
Dodge City would take a 5-2 lead after a three from sophomore Cooper Scheck, but Junction City would quickly realize Scheck’s shooting ability and would shut him down for the most part the remainder of the game.
The Red Demons ended the first quarter trailing the Blue Jays, 23-17. The second quarter is when Dodge City’s offense struggled, turning the ball over numerous times and resulting in easy transition points for Junction City. The Blue Jays would outscore Dodge City 14-4 in the second quarter and would lead 37-21 at halftime.
Junction City came out firing in the third quarter and would continue to build on their lead. The Blue Jays scored 29 points in the quarter and grabbed a 66-32 lead going into the final quarter. That would bring a running clock into play and although the Red Demons would outscore the Blue Jays, 10-7 in the final period, the lead that Junction City set up in the second and third quarters would still give them plenty of cushion.
Junction City – 23 14 29 7 — 73
Dodge City – 17 4 11 10 — 42
Junction City: Dixon 14, Tedder 2, Smith 2, Johnson 16, Humphreys 10, Battiste 12, Hughes 1, Range 6, Ruffin 10.
Dodge City: Lowery 3, Smith 2, Harshberger 4, Cox 5, Scheck 14, Friess 11, Loll 3.
Next Up
Dodge City girls (1-0) will host Newton (0-1) on Tuesday evening at the DCHS Fieldhouse with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m. Pregame coverage beginning at 5:45 p.m. on 98.1 FM, Z98 Mobile App and westernkansasnews.com/z98. The Dodge City boys (0-1) will also host Newton (0-1) 15 minutes following the girls game on Z98.
