Lady Buffs complete sweep of Red Demons, bounce Dodge City, 52-37

Story Credit: GCHS Athletics

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When a team that is supposed to win and is playing a rival at home, the saying goes that one wants to get off to a fast start.

That’s what the Garden City Lady Buffs did on Tuesday night in The Garden, but with one stretch of the second quarter, dominated their arch-rival Dodge City, 52-37, to complete a regular season sweep for the second straight year.

This time, the sweep was with former Dodge City girls’ coach Kelley Snodgrass on the Lady Buffs’ side of the court and while the victory is sweet, she’s just glad to get it over.

“It’s not easy playing your former team and school, so I’m just pleased to get out with a good win and now we have to get ready to play a really, really good team (Hays) in 48 hours,” Snodgrass said.

The Buffs jumped out to a 15-6 lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to 10-0 run after just being up 5-4 in the early going. Then, with a quick start in the second period with Sophie Doll getting two layups, the Buffs found themselves up 19-6 and seemingly in command.

However, the Demons made sure to keep the Buffs on point as they then went on a 12-0 run to pull within 19-18 just before halftime. After Tegan Snodgrass’ two missed free throws, Myah Korf got a rebound and passed it out to Mia Hannagan who drilled a desperation 3-pointer that swished through just a fraction of a second before the buzzer to put them up 22-18.

“We started strong but then hit the lull there in the second quarter when we were living or dying with the 3-point shot,” Snodgrass said. “But in the third quarter, we delivered the knockout punch.”

That must have put some fire into the Buffs as they came out rolling in the third quarter, scoring the first 12 points to go up 34-18 and the Demons never recovered. By the end of the third it was 42-23 and with about three minutes left in the game with the score 50-32, Snodgrass cleared her bench with Dodge City making five free throws down the stretch.

Junior guard ThayLee Powers got off to a blazing start, hitting a pair of long-range shots in the first and finished with a game-high 16 points. Mia Hannagan also reached double figures with 11 points. Dodge City got 12 points from Emma Bell and Emily Gutierrez. The Buffs held one of the Demons’ top scorers, Piper Mellinger, scoreless.

“I told ThayLee (5-of-7 field goals) before the game that we needed her to hit those shots and she did,” Snodgrass said of Powers. “It’s always good to hit those early and get your confidence.”

Statistically, the Lady Buffs shot 40 percent from the field (20-of-50) but were just 7-of-28 from 3-point range (25 percent). They struggled at the free throw line (5-of-12) and were out rebounded again, 33-27. They limited turnovers to 10 while accumulating 15 assists (Myah Korf with 7 and Snodgrass with 6). Korf also had a team-high 9 rebounds.

Dodge City was limited to 12-of-44 shots (27.3 percent), 3-of-15 from behind the arc (20 percent), committed 17 turnovers with 8 assists and were 9-of-16 at the line.

The Buffs have little time to enjoy the victory, however, as they get Wednesday to prepare for a Thursday night game at Class 5A-ranked and Western Athletic Conference-leading Hays.

“They are tough, but we also know that Dodge led them at halftime so anything can happen,” Snodgrass said. “We have to hit our shots and rebound because they have some bigs that are tough.”

The victory improved the Lady Buffs’ overall season record to 13-7 and they are now 4-2 in the WAC. They will play their final regular season home game on Feb. 24 against Liberal, which is in second place in the WAC. The regular season will end on Feb. 27 with a road game at Wichita-Southeast in a game postponed earlier in the season due to inclement weather. Dodge City drops to 8-12 and 1-4 in the WAC.

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Western Athletic Conference
Game # 6
GARDEN CITY 52, DODGE CITY 37
Dodge City (37) — Bell 5 2-3 12, Taylor 1 0-0 3, Gutierrez 2 7-8 12, Culwell 1 1-4 3, Bogner 1 0-0 2, Pfaff 2 0-0 5. Totals 12 10-15 37.
Garden City (52) — Powers 5 3-4 16, Hannagan 4 0-0 11, Celis 1 0-0 2, Meng 2 0-0 4, Korf 1 1-2 3, S. Doll 4 1-2 9, Snodgrass 3 0-5 7. Totals 20 5-13 52.

Dodge City (8-12/1-4)…6…12…5…14…–…37
Garden City (13-7/4-2)…15…7…21…9…–…52

3-point goals—Dodge City 3 (Pfaff, Gutierrez, Taylor 1 each); Garden City 7 (Snodgrass 1, Hannagan 3, Powers 3). Fouls—Dodge City 12, Garden City 15. Fouled out–None.