Red Demons hoops split with Liberal in season finale

Dodge City, KS(westernkansasnews.com) The Dodge City High School basketball teams split with Liberal Thursday night. The girls fell 53-46, while the boys got the season sweep with a 73-63 win.

Boys

Dodge City trailed at halftime 34-26 after a sluggish start. In the third quarter the Red Demons outscored Liberal 16-11, to cut the score to 45-42. Dodge exploded in the fourth quarter outscoring the Redskins 31-18.

The Red Demons shot 22-50 from the field for 44 percent. Dodge also forced Liberal into 15 turnovers for 19 points. They also had one of their most efficient night of the season on offense averaging 1.14 points per possession.

On senior night Hunter Heath led the way for Dodge City with 21 points and 9 rebounds. John Johnson had another big game with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Noah Sowers had 18 points and Luke Gleason had 10. Kace Vongsakda had a huge night for Liberal with 32 points.

Girls

The Liberal jumped out to a 26-5 lead early in the second quarter, Dodge City was able to cut the deficit to 34-24 at halftime. The Lady Demons would move closer in the third quarter outscoring the Lady Redskins 13-4 and trailing just 38-37 after the third. The Lady Red Demons stayed within two points most of the fourth quarter until Ali Lucero drained a corner three with 1:35 to play, then Katie Horyna made a layup to put it away with a minute to play.

Liberal forced Dodge City into 18 turnovers that led to 28 points. The Lady Redskins also got 10 second chance points on 11 offensive rebounds. The foul line helped the Lady Red Demons shooting 14-20.

Katie Horyna led the way for Liberal with 13 points 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Machia Mullens also had 13 points 4 blocks and 4 rebounds. Chidera Okoro led Dodge City in scoring for the seventh straight game with 15 points and 6 rebounds and Ezinne Okoro had 9 points and 4 rebounds.

The Red Demons girls will be back in action Tuesday night at home. The boys will play Wednesday night. The sub-state bracket will be released on Saturday.