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This was it.
The crowd had the feel of a national championship game, and from the way the players came out during Friday night’s battle between Dodge City and Wichita Heights, you’d believe they were playing for one.
But, future Kansas Jayhawk Perry Ellis and Falcons were too much for the Demons and their loyal fan base as they earned a trip to the finals with a 47-33 win over Dodge City on Friday night.
“We’re just glad we got the win here tonight, it was a very difficult game against a difficult opponent on their home floor,” said Wichita Heights head coach Joe Auer. “We’re very pleased with the win and obviously we have a great opponent tomorrow night that we’re very familiar with.”
It was a wild first quarter, with the Demons controlling the ball, attempting to limit the amount of possession by the Falcons, who came into the contest with 53 straight victories, the longest streak in the nation.
With the ball handling skills of Isaiah Bradshaw and Matt Goedeken, the Demons were able to successfully frustrate the Falcons’ skill players, including Ellis and Gavin Thurman.
The first two points of the night were scored on free throws by Bradshaw, sending the nearly full crowd into a frenzy.
After Heights tied it up on the other end, Dodge City came back down and used their ball control to meticulously work for the best shot, eventually finding it as they put home a long two-pointer to give them a 4-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The crowd could feel, the Demons could feel it.
While it was only the beginning of the second quarter, this had the makings of a special game, with the student section in full force, the pep band rocking away and the players scrapping for every loose ball.
It couldn’t have started any better in the second, as Goedeken found himself wide open at the top of the key, sinking the triple to give the Demons a five-point lead as the crowd reached DEFCON level one status.
However, the Demon offense would reach a stalling point in the middle portion of the quarter, as the Falcons continually worked the ball into their workhorse, the Kansas University signee Ellis.
Ellis, at 6-foot-8, had a definite height advantage over the interior Demon defenders and Heights went there time and time again, as the senior All-State selection continued to pound the glass on both ends.
“Their height is a whole part of their offensive scheme, shoot and go get the ball,” said head coach Dodge City head coach Dennis Hamilton. “I’m a little disappointed in our boxing out efforts in the first half. Ellis was a focal point for us and there were times we thought we had him boxed out, but didn’t work out that way.”
The Falcons went on a 12-0 run to end the second quarter, giving them a slim seven-point lead entering the halftime break, up 16-9.
Even though the Demons could only put the nine-spot up on the board, from the feel of the crowd, it felt as though Dodge City had put up 90 — it was that big of a game.
It was clear that rebounding would be a big piece of head coach Dennis Hamilton’s halftime speech, as the Demons were out-boarded 16-8 in the first half, with Ellis grabbing eight of those, including five offensive rebounds.
The third quarter would be the deciding factor, as the Falcons built upon their lead, using Ellis at their disposal, which the Demons had no answer for on the inside.
With the seconds and minutes ticking off the clock and the Demons unable to score a bucket, the once lively and energetic capacity crowd fell silent as Dodge City fell further behind the Falcons.
Dodge City finally found some life after Goedeken and Isaiah Bradshaw sunk two three-pointers, bringing the score to 30-15 in favor of the Falcons.
But Heights was just too much for the Demons couldn’t keep up with the size and speed that the Falcons brought to the court.
Overall, over 2,000 people saw the Demons put up a fight for their lives as they attempted to bring down the 12th ranked team in the country.
Now, the Demons will move on to tomorrow’s third place contest to take on Hutchinson, while the Falcons have set up a City League showdown with fellow rival Wichita East. The Falcons and Aces met just a week ago as the Falcons won 70-60.
Ellis was ever bit the dominant force on the inside that he has been all season, leading the Falcons with 27 points and 16 big rebounds. As a team, Heights out-rebounded the Demons by 18, while shooting 49 percent from the field.
“We got exactly what we thought we were going to get, a long and ugly game,” Auer said. “They executed very well offensively, they controlled the tempo very well and when we finally got going, we went on that 23-0 run and we picked up a great win.”
For the Demons, they were led by Bradshaw who finished with 12 points, while Bradshaw finished with 10 points before fouling out late in the fourth, leaving to thunderous applause from the fans.
For Hamilton, his Demon players looked the lion in the eyes tonight and didn’t back down, and hopefully can build on this performance.
“I don’t think our kids played intimidated, obviously there is a mystique with the Heights program with the players they have, but our players, for the most part, got in there and battled them,” he said. “We did some things really, really well and these are games that you hopefully build and you learn from that will help us later on.”
This was it.
The crowd had the feel of a national championship game, and from the way the players came out during Friday night’s battle between Dodge City and Wichita Heights, you’d believe they were playing for one.
But, future Kansas Jayhawk Perry Ellis and Falcons were too much for the Demons and their loyal fan base as they earned a trip to the finals with a 47-33 win over Dodge City on Friday night.
“We’re just glad we got the win here tonight, it was a very difficult game against a difficult opponent on their home floor,” said Wichita Heights head coach Joe Auer. “We’re very pleased with the win and obviously we have a great opponent tomorrow night that we’re very familiar with.”
It was a wild first quarter, with the Demons controlling the ball, attempting to limit the amount of possession by the Falcons, who came into the contest with 53 straight victories, the longest streak in the nation.
With the ball handling skills of Isaiah Bradshaw and Matt Goedeken, the Demons were able to successfully frustrate the Falcons’ skill players, including Ellis and Gavin Thurman.
The first two points of the night were scored on free throws by Bradshaw, sending the nearly full crowd into a frenzy.
After Heights tied it up on the other end, Dodge City came back down and used their ball control to meticulously work for the best shot, eventually finding it as they put home a long two-pointer to give them a 4-2 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The crowd could feel, the Demons could feel it.
While it was only the beginning of the second quarter, this had the makings of a special game, with the student section in full force, the pep band rocking away and the players scrapping for every loose ball.
It couldn’t have started any better in the second, as Goedeken found himself wide open at the top of the key, sinking the triple to give the Demons a five-point lead as the crowd reached DEFCON level one status.
However, the Demon offense would reach a stalling point in the middle portion of the quarter, as the Falcons continually worked the ball into their workhorse, the Kansas University signee Ellis.
Ellis, at 6-foot-8, had a definite height advantage over the interior Demon defenders and Heights went there time and time again, as the senior All-State selection continued to pound the glass on both ends.
“Their height is a whole part of their offensive scheme, shoot and go get the ball,” said head coach Dodge City head coach Dennis Hamilton. “I’m a little disappointed in our boxing out efforts in the first half. Ellis was a focal point for us and there were times we thought we had him boxed out, but didn’t work out that way.”
The Falcons went on a 12-0 run to end the second quarter, giving them a slim seven-point lead entering the halftime break, up 16-9.
Even though the Demons could only put the nine-spot up on the board, from the feel of the crowd, it felt as though Dodge City had put up 90 — it was that big of a game.
It was clear that rebounding would be a big piece of head coach Dennis Hamilton’s halftime speech, as the Demons were out-boarded 16-8 in the first half, with Ellis grabbing eight of those, including five offensive rebounds.
The third quarter would be the deciding factor, as the Falcons built upon their lead, using Ellis at their disposal, which the Demons had no answer for on the inside.
With the seconds and minutes ticking off the clock and the Demons unable to score a bucket, the once lively and energetic capacity crowd fell silent as Dodge City fell further behind the Falcons.
Dodge City finally found some life after Goedeken and Isaiah Bradshaw sunk two three-pointers, bringing the score to 30-15 in favor of the Falcons.
But Heights was just too much for the Demons couldn’t keep up with the size and speed that the Falcons brought to the court.
Overall, over 2,000 people saw the Demons put up a fight for their lives as they attempted to bring down the 12th ranked team in the country.
Now, the Demons will move on to tomorrow’s third place contest to take on Hutchinson, while the Falcons have set up a City League showdown with fellow rival Wichita East. The Falcons and Aces met just a week ago as the Falcons won 70-60.
Ellis was ever bit the dominant force on the inside that he has been all season, leading the Falcons with 27 points and 16 big rebounds. As a team, Heights out-rebounded the Demons by 18, while shooting 49 percent from the field.
“We got exactly what we thought we were going to get, a long and ugly game,” Auer said. “They executed very well offensively, they controlled the tempo very well and when we finally got going, we went on that 23-0 run and we picked up a great win.”
For the Demons, they were led by Bradshaw who finished with 12 points, while Bradshaw finished with 10 points before fouling out late in the fourth, leaving to thunderous applause from the fans.
For Hamilton, his Demon players looked the lion in the eyes tonight and didn’t back down, and hopefully can build on this performance.
“I don’t think our kids played intimidated, obviously there is a mystique with the Heights program with the players they have, but our players, for the most part, got in there and battled them,” he said. “We did some things really, really well and these are games that you hopefully build and you learn from that will help us later on.”
