Dodge City sweeps hoops action at Garden City

(Photo: Adam Shrimplin)

GARDEN CITY, Kan. — The Dodge City and Garden City rivalries date back over 100 years and many of the games on the hardwood have been decided by close margins. That would not change on Tuesday night, as the Red Demons defeated the Buffaloes, 46-39 in girls action and 53-50 on the boys side in overtime.

The win on the girls side ended Dodge City’s three-game losing streak, after they went 0-3 in the Mid America Classic last week in McPherson and finished in 8th Place. The Lady Buffaloes came in after a 7th Place finish at the Newton Invitational last week.

Both teams struggled early on in the game, as neither team was able to do much. Dodge City would end the quarter on a 4-0 run to pull within one after one, 8-7.

Dodge City carried that momentum into the second quarter and went on an 8-0 run to begin the quarter and led 15-8. Garden City’s first bucket of the quarter came at the 3:05 mark in the quarter. The teams would go back and forth before Dodge City led 21-14 at the halftime break.

The Lady Demons got up by as many as nine early in the third quarter and led 25-16. That lead would quickly dwindle, as the Buffaloes scored five straight to pull within one, 27-26 and then would take a 31-28 lead to the final quarter.

Dodge City would pull away and create some separation in the final quarter en route to the seven-point win. Freshman Camree Johnson pulled in a career-high 19 points, while sophomore Kisa Unruh added 10. Symone Simmons led the Buffaloes with 10 points.

The night cap would not disappoint, the two teams were meeting for the 255th time on the hardwood, a series that dates back to 1907.

The Red Demons ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 20-17 lead into the second quarter. Both teams would go back and forth in the second quarter, that is until Dodge City went on another 7-0 run to pull ahead 30-24 late in the half. Both teams would trade buckets in the final minute to give the Demons a 32-26 lead at the halftime break.

Garden City scored the first five points of the third quarter to pull within one, but another 6-0 run from Dodge City started to create some space. After pulling ahead 40-33, Garden City went on a 5-0 run to pull within two. Garden City would hit a shot as the horn sounded to end the quarter with some momentum, trailing by just two, 42-40 going to the final eight minutes.

The Buffaloes would tie the game up at 47 apiece with 45 seconds to go. Both teams had a chance down the stretch to win it, but the Demons came up empty on three attempts as time expired to send the game to overtime.

Garden City opened the overtime period up on a 3-0 run to go up 50-47, but Dodge City wouldn’t back down. Cody Ibarra hit a clutch three-pointer from the left wing to give the Demons a 51-50 lead with 1:03 to go in overtime. That was followed by a five-second inbound violation for Garden City, giving Dodge City the ball back. Noah Sowers would hit two big free throws with 0.8 to go, forcing another GC timeout. The Buffs wouldn’t get up a shot as time expired to end it. Sowers finished with 18 points on 12-13 from the free throw line to lead Dodge City, while Carlos Acosta’s 15 led the Buffaloes.