Dodge City basketball opens WAC play with split against Liberal

The Dodge City High School basketball teams went on the road on Friday night to take on Liberal, as the girls were defeated 54-35, and the boys picked up a 52-47 win. The double header was the opening game of Western Athletic Conference play for both Dodge City teams.

Lady Demons drop to Liberal:

While the Lady Demons did not come out on top, they had plenty to be happy about during the loss to Liberal. The top two players on Liberal’s 8-2 team, seniors Kylie Rhine and Shamari Lewis were dominant throughout. Lewis contributed 18 points and 18 rebounds while Rhine had 20 points and nabbed six steals.

Dodge City was without senior forward Piper Mellinger, their second leading scorer and leading rebounder, but still managed to put up a good fight. Senior guard Addisyn Taylor had a team-leading 15 points, five steals and two blocks. Junior guard Emily Gutierrez contributed 12 points.

The Lady Demons drop to 5-7 on the year with the loss, and will have a significant break until Jan. 29 when they will play the first of their three games at the Newton tournament.

Red Demons hold on after Liberal’s ferocious third quarter:

Dodge City played a solid first half to take a 27-16 lead into the locker room. The Demons held Liberal to just 28.6% shooting from the field and just 1-of-9 from three-point range in the first half.

In the second half, Liberal managed to make life uncomfortable for the Demons as they struggled with the full court pressure. Eventually, Liberal tied the score in the fourth quarter, but Dodge City relied on their two leading scorers on the year to make some big plays down the stretch.

First, it was junior guard Cru Lembright, who is known for his three-point shooting, as he scored through a foul and made the subsequent free throw to put Dodge City up by three. Liberal never tied the game after Lembright’s and-one.

Then with the Demons trying to ice the game away, senior guard Ty Scheck got downhill and made a floater to put them up by two possessions. Scheck also made the final two free throws with under five seconds to play to bring the final score to 52-47.

Scheck finished the game with 21 points, going 10-of-14 at the free throw line. Lembright had 16 points, as he drained three 3’s. Junior forward Rase Smith had 10 points and five rebounds inside, while senior forward Yaasir Mohammed led Dodge City with six rebounds off the bench.

The Red Demons will begin Tournament of Champions on Thursday night as they will take on Maize in the opening round at 7 p.m. at United Wireless Arena. That game, along with all other Tournament of Champions games will be live on the air on Z98 .