GREAT BEND — Defense is a staple in the Dodge City High School boys’ basketball team’s playbook.
The Red Demons, ranked No. 9 in the latest Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Class 6A poll, discombobulated Great Bend’s offensive flow in posting 51-43 road victory Friday night.
Dodge City improved to
improved to 7-1 overall, including 2-0 in the Western Athletic Conference.
Great Bend dropped to 4-4. 1-2.
One game removed from completely bottling up Maize South in a 54-13 win on Tuesday night, the Demons turned back Great Bend every time it tried to make a late run. The Panthers missed a trio of 3-pointers and turned the ball over twice in the final 1 1 1/2 minutes.
“That was probably the difference in the ball game,” said DCHS head coach Dennis Hamilton, “how well we did go out and defend.
“(Great Bend) is very capable of shooting the ball better than 37 percent, but we contested a lot of shots and were flying at them. I think they were 2-for-16 from behind the arc.”
While limiting the Panthers to 16-for-43 field-goal shooting, DCHS used balanced scoring on the opposite side of the floor.
Sophomore guard Rico Hogan had 12 points and five rebounds, and senior forward Terrence Williams had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Sophomore guard Trey Hallman scored a season-high 10 points for the Demons, and senior post player Miles Morin had nine points and six rebounds.
DCHS senior foward Landon Head had seven points and eight rebounds.
“We had it pretty well spread out,” Hamilton said in reference. “It was going to be a low-possession, low-scoring-type game.”
Logan Marshall scored a game-high 16 points and Greg Hildebrand added nine points for Great Bend, which fell behind 37-24 after three quarters.
The Demons’ defense was the reason.
“That’s a good thing, and you’ve got to have that every night,” Hamilton said. “That’s something that you should be able to bring.
“If you have a chance to contend and compete for a conference title, you’ve got to go on the road and get away with one or two.”
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Western Athletic Conference
Friday
At Great Bend
BOYS
Dodge City 51, Great Bend 43
DODGE CITY (7-1, 2-0)
Rico Hogan 3-5 4-8 12, Trey Hallman 3-4 3-9 10, Landon Head 2-5 3-4 7, Benito Sotelo 0-2 1-2 1, Matt Esquibel 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Howarth 0-1 1-2 1, Terrence Williams 3-8 5-9 11, Miles Morin 3-4 3-6 9, Terell Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Derek Ridenour 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-30 20-40 51.
GREAT BEND (4-4, 1-2)
Jordan Bayse 1-4 0-1 3, Greg Hildebrand 4-9 0-2 9, Jeff Pike 0 0-0 0,m Dakota Ellis 0-2 2-2 2, Austin Zamarripa 1-4 2-6 4, Jace Bowman 0-5 0-0 0, Cameron Casey 0-0 0-0 0, Bill Frier 1-2 0-2 2, Mitch Cottas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-43 9-19 43.
Dodge City 10 17 10 14 -- 51
Great Bend 9 8 7 19 -- 43
Three-point goals — Dodge City 3-7 (Hogan 2-3, Hallman 1-1, Sotelo 0-1, Williams 0-1); Great Bend 2-16 (Hilderbrand 1-5, Bayse 1-4, Bowman 0-4, Marshall 0-3), Rebounds — Dodge City 33 (Williams 8, Head 8, Morin 6, Hogan 5); Great Bend 27 (Marshall 9). Assists -- Dodge City 9, Great Bend 8. Turnovers -- Great Bend 15, Dodge City 13.
