Dodge City and Garden City split on hardwood

GARDEN CITY, Kan. — The Dodge City High School basketball teams made the 50 mile trek west on Highway 50 to take on their rival, Garden City on Tuesday night. The Dodge City girls would get the win, 46-20, while the Garden City boys got past Dodge, 68-54.

DODGE CITY GIRLS 46, GARDEN CITY 20

The Lady Demons improved their overall record to 14-4 and 4-2 in Western Athletic Conference play with a thrashing of the Buffaloes on Tuesday night, 46-20. The two teams would trade leads early in the first quarter, but Dodge City ended the quarter strong and led 12-6 after eight minutes. The second quarter was dominated by Dodge City, as they outscored the Buffaloes, 14-0 in the quarter. The zero points allowed in the quarter marks the first time this season that Dodge City has had an opponent scoreless in a quarter. The previous low was one point against Newton back in the second game of the season.

Dodge City came out strong in the second half as well, using their quickness to extend on the lead. Garden City would score their first point in the second half on a free-throw, ending the 14-minute and 30-second scoring drought for the Buffaloes going back to the first quarter. The first field goal Garden City would get in the second half came over a minute later, so the Buffaloes were held scoreless from the field for 15 minutes and 40 seconds. The Lady Demons led 35-12 after three quarters. Dodge City pushed the lead to 30 early in the fourth quarter and that put the running clock in effect throughout the remainder of the game. 

The Red Demons improved to 14-4 overall, 4-2 in the WAC, while Garden City fell to 9-9 overall, 3-3 in the WAC. Dodge City will host Great Bend on Friday night, while Garden City will travel to Hays High.

Dodge City — 12 14 9 11 — 46

Garden City — 6 0 6 8 — 20

Dodge City: B. Unruh 5, Johnson 19, K. Unruh 12, Clark 2, Okoro 8.

Garden City: Calzonette 3, Gallegos 6, Flores 3, Meng 3, Picken 2, Turner 2, Rodriguez 1.

GARDEN CITY BOYS 68, DODGE CITY 54

The second game of the doubleheader looked like it was going to be a good one through the first half. Garden City built a 16-12 lead after the first quarter, but Dodge City would outscore the Buffaloes in the second quarter to lead 25-24 at halftime.

The Buffaloes have been known to be a “hit or miss” three-point shooting team, they’ll take a lot of them, including 25 on Tuesday night. Garden City used the “hit” part of that saying, as they knocked down 12 three-pointers in the victory, including five from Azavier Williams, one of the most talented players in the WAC and he’s only a sophomore. Williams finished with a game-high 26 points in the contest, as the Buffaloes started to pull away in the third quarter, going up 43-36 after three quarters. Dodge City, a team that likes to shoot a lot of 3s as well, struggled getting open shots from the perimeter, so they relied on driving through the lane, but every time they’d pull closer, Garden City had an answer from behind the arc. Garden City built their lead up and made their free throws down the stretch to pick up their ninth win of the season.

Dodge City falls to 4-14 overall, 1-5 in the WAC, while Garden City improves to 9-9 overall, 2-4 in the WAC. Dodge City will host WAC leader Great Bend on Friday night, while Garden City is on the road at Hays High.

Dodge City — 12 13 11 18 — 54

Garden City — 16 8 19 25 — 68

Dodge City: Barajas 2, Smith 5, Harshberger 5, Cox 2, Sanchez 2, Scheck 7, Johnson 13, Sowers 7, Loll 11.

Garden City: Rosales 17, Williams 26, Flores 8, Tolbert 8, Wiese 2, Tanner 2, Underwood 3.