Red Demons hold on for win at Great Bend

Great Bend, KS(westernkansasnews.com)

On Friday night in Great Bend, the Dodge City Red Demons started slowly, overtook the Panthers, built a 10-point lead, lost the lead, regained the lead and then held on for a 64-61 victory.

Dodge City started the game cold, unable to make a field goal for the first 5:30 of the game, hitting just 2-of-12 in the opening quarter. The Red Demons got to the free throw line 10 times, but hit just three of the freebies. Fortunately, Great Bend was cold, too, connecting on just 3-of-12 from the field, including 1-for-4 from three-point range, and Dodge City just trailed 9-7 after one.

The 2nd quarter was a different story as the Red Demons opened on a 6-0 run to take a 13-9 with 6:45 to play in the half. From that point on, the two teams traded buckets until another Dodge City run, capped by a Luke Gleason trey, gave the Red Demons an 8-point lead, 24-16. Dodge City extended that lead to 10, 28-18, but Great Bend scored the final four points and by halftime the lead was six, 28-22.

Dodge City opened the 3rd quarter with four quick points, to equal its biggest lead at 32-22. Two quick treys from Great Bend’s Brock Blessing and Alex Schremmer trimmed the lead to four, but the Red Demons stretched it back to nine, 40-31 with just over four minutes to play in the third. The Panthers then made their run, dropping in 11 unanswered points to re-take the lead, 42-40. Dodge City would regain the lead, 44-43, heading into the final period.

The 4th quarter was a back-and-forth tussle with four lead changes and seven ties. Noah Sowers hit a pair of free throws with two minutes to play to give the Red Demons the lead for good, 60-58. Another free throw made it 61-58 and Dodge City would finish the game off at the charity stripe, pulling it out, 64-61.

Noah Sowers led the Red Demons with 19 points, hitting 11 of 16 free throw attempts, 8 of 10 in the 4th quarter. He also pulled down 6 rebounds and dished out 5 assists. John Johnson added 14 points and 9 rebounds off the bench, with Hunter Heath tossing in 12 points and grabbing 7 boards, also off the bench. Sophomore standout Alex Schremmer led Great Bend with 20 points and Ty Esfeld added a double-double for the Panthers, 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Dodge City controlled the boards, 49-38, and got 13 second-chance points. Turnovers were about even, 17 for Dodge City and 16 for Great Bend. The Red Demons scored 15 points off turnovers. Dodge City shot just 37% from the field, including just 1-of-12 from beyond the arc. Great Bend hit 36% of its field goal attempts and 5-of-25 from 3-point range. The Red Demons got to the line 52 times, hitting just 27 of those, while the Panthers were 12-of-22 from the charity stripe.

Dodge City improves to 7-5 on the season, 2-0 in the WAC. The Red Demons will host the Garden City Buffaloes on Tuesday.