Red Demon basketball sweeps Hugoton

DODGE CITY, Kan. — The Dodge City Red Demons boys and girls teams swept the Hugoton Eagles on Tuesday evening inside of the DCHS Field House. Both teams suffered losses last Friday to the Maize Eagles, but were able to bounce back and win in front of the home crowd.

The Red Demon girls beat the Eagles last season by one and this one would be another thriller. Hugoton jumped out to a 13-5 after the first quarter and it looked like everything was going in favor of the Eagles.

“We keep talking over and over again about getting off to bad starts,” Dodge City coach Kelley Snodgrass said. “If there was something I could do to teach the girls to not start off so bad then I would, but I can’t teach that. It’s all about the effort and intensity they have to start the game.”

Dodge City came out and played much better in the second quarter and would pull within two of Hugoton at halftime, 23-21. Freshman Kya Edwards had a big first quarter for the Red Demons, finishing with a team-high 5 points, but that doesn’t speak for how well she played defensively.

“Kya came in and provided the spark we needed,” Snodgrass said. “She got the start tonight and played like an upperclassmen. It’s hard for a freshman like her to come in and play big minutes in a game like that.”

Hugoton once again would lead by two after a quarter, as they led 36-34 going into the final eight minutes. It was turning out to be a repeat of the game last year in Hugoton.

Dodge City sophomore Kisa Unruh had a big fourth quarter for the Red Demons. She came in averaging 17.3 points per game, but was held in check the first half. Unruh poured in 10 second half points to help the Red Demons offense. Sophomore Lauren Gleason was also clutch for Dodge City, having knocked down 4-of-6 free throws in the fourth quarter.

The Red Demons would come back and beat the Eagles, 50-46. Freshman Camree Johnson added 10 points and 8 rebounds for the Red Demons. Hugoton was led by the 5-foot-11 sophomore Jordyn Beard, as she finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 9 blocked shots.

The Red Demon boys jumped out to a quick 9-1 start,  but would see that quickly go away, as the Eagles started to ride some momentum and take a lead of their own. Hugoton would go on an 14-4 run to end the quarter and lead 15-13 over the Demons after one. Hugoton’s Damian Lewis who had 39 points in a win on Saturday for the Eagles had nine first quarter points for the Eagles.

Both teams went back and forth in the second quarter, as the game saw four ties and five lead changes alone in the second quarter. The Red Demons and Eagles went into the halftime break all tied up at 37 apiece.

The message Red Demon coach Tony Starnes gave to his team at halftime must’ve been a good one. Dodge City came out firing on all cylinders in the second half.

Dodge City put up 32 points in the third quarter and shot lights out. The Red Demons hit a plethora of three pointers in the quarter and also were able to cash in on steals with lay ups on the other end and three of those lay ups resulted in an and-one opportunity. The third quarter buried the Eagles deep in the ground, as the Red Demons led 69-52 after three quarters.

The fourth quarter would be no different for the Red Demons, as their hot shooting continued. Anthony Speakman came in and knocked down three three-pointers, Matt Friess added one and Adrian Mendoza also added two all in the final quarter, as the Red Demons hit triple digits in route to a 100-77 win over the Eagles.

Dodge City had four players score in double figures, led by Noah Sowers’ 16, Speakman, Bowen Smith and Mendoza all added 15 apiece. The Red Demons made 15 3-pointers in the game and shot 48 percent from the field as a team. Some numbers that popped out to the coaching staff were Cody Ibarra’s 10 assists and the 25 assists on 35 made field goals.

What’s Next? Both teams will take their 2-2 records to Guymon, Okla. next Tuesday to take on the Tigers. The girls will tip-off at 6:15 p.m. with the boys scheduled to begin around 8:00 p.m. Both games can be heard on the home for the Red Demons, KSKZ-98.1 FM. The games will also be streamed live on www.dchssports.com/demonvision-live/.