|
|
|
It was the first home games of the year for the Dodge City Community College basketball teams at the United Wireless Arena, but from the look of the stat sheet, you would have guessed the Conqs live, breathe and sleep in the new arena.
Friday night was the opening tipoff of the Conq Classic for both the men and the women, with the women facing off against Bethany College, while the guys had a rematch against Tabor College, a team that Dodge saw earlier this season.
For the women, it was a tale of jumping to an early lead and never looking back, as the Lady Conqs forced 28 Bethany turnovers en route to a 71-49 win, which could've been even bigger late in the second half.
Guard Je'nae Strong led the team with 20 points on 9 of 19 shooting, including seven rebounds on the night.
As a team the Conqs had two more boards than the visiting side, but the telling state came in the form of 28 Bethany turnovers, compared to 13 for Dodge.
Also scoring in double figures was Kalyn Williams (14), Desiree Raines (12) and Laquaris Harris (10). Guard Jazmin Vlla continued her strong start to the season, scoring six points, but dishing out a game-high seven assists.
For head coach Lucas McDonald, a win is a win, but the team still has room for improvement, no matter what the scoreboard says.
"You know, it's hard for us sometimes, this team is still new, we're trying to figure out how to consistently do things and get a lead, then we get a little lax and let up," McDonald said. "It's a bunch of freshman that haven't had the opportunities to be in this situation at this level, so we still have some things to work on."
With a roster composed of fairly new players to the Conq system, plus it is McDonald's first year at the helm, it is still a work in progress as the season begins to kick into gear.
"I believe we're starting to gel, we just have to figure out roles, we have to get that figured out as we get to conference play," McDonald said. "We need to figure out exactly what our roles are, where we're at, and I understand those things are changing constantly, but we're still working through and we'll continue to evaluate it as we move forward."
As for the men, it was a blowout from the opening tip as the Conqs roared out to an early 11-1 lead, with the only Tabor point coming on a technical free throw after R.J. McGhee was called for hanging on the rim after a sky-walking dunk.
The visiting Bluejays would not connect on their first field goal until 13:47 left in the first half, but they were already behind 13-4.
Dodge would continue to pull away, using an impressive array of dunks, layups, outside shooting and post moves, in what head coach Brady Trenkle considered the best team performance he's seen all season, in a monstrous 102-55 victory.
One player who had his way with the Tabor defense was Baltimore forward James Milton, who buried 10 of 14 shots for a game-high 22 points and was also tied for the team lead with seven rebounds.
The only other Conq to score more than nine points was Tramel White with 16. He also dished out a game-high seven assists.
It was a game that was one-sided from the beginning with Dodge outrebounding the Bluejays 49-29 and blocking seven Tabor shots, many of which had the crowd jumping from their seats.
Trenkle would go on to say that this would be the most cohesive his team has looked on the young season, and it will come in handy as they face Murray State on Saturday.
"Murray State's a good team and I've been concerned about this game for awhile because their bigs go 6 foot 11, 6 foot 9, and 6 foot 9, and we're just not that big," Trenkle said. "They're also playing for something, they're from Oklahoma and what happened to Oklahoma State, they're playing for something and when you're playing for something, you don't feel being tired. Their coach (Rutherford) played at Oklahoma State, so he's been hit to heart with this situation, so they're going to play with some emotion and we're gonna have to try to match that."
Tonight, the Conqs play the final games of the Conq Classic at the UWA, with the women set to tipoff at 5:30 p.m. against McCook Community College, while the men square off with Murray State at 7:30, which will prove to be a tier one matchup of schools on the rise.
Check out the slideshows of the action this weekend!
It was the first home games of the year for the Dodge City Community College basketball teams at the United Wireless Arena, but from the look of the stat sheet, you would have guessed the Conqs live, breathe and sleep in the new arena.
Friday night was the opening tipoff of the Conq Classic for both the men and the women, with the women facing off against Bethany College, while the guys had a rematch against Tabor College, a team that Dodge saw earlier this season.
For the women, it was a tale of jumping to an early lead and never looking back, as the Lady Conqs forced 28 Bethany turnovers en route to a 71-49 win, which could've been even bigger late in the second half.
Guard Je'nae Strong led the team with 20 points on 9 of 19 shooting, including seven rebounds on the night.
As a team the Conqs had two more boards than the visiting side, but the telling state came in the form of 28 Bethany turnovers, compared to 13 for Dodge.
Also scoring in double figures was Kalyn Williams (14), Desiree Raines (12) and Laquaris Harris (10). Guard Jazmin Vlla continued her strong start to the season, scoring six points, but dishing out a game-high seven assists.
For head coach Lucas McDonald, a win is a win, but the team still has room for improvement, no matter what the scoreboard says.
"You know, it's hard for us sometimes, this team is still new, we're trying to figure out how to consistently do things and get a lead, then we get a little lax and let up," McDonald said. "It's a bunch of freshman that haven't had the opportunities to be in this situation at this level, so we still have some things to work on."
With a roster composed of fairly new players to the Conq system, plus it is McDonald's first year at the helm, it is still a work in progress as the season begins to kick into gear.
"I believe we're starting to gel, we just have to figure out roles, we have to get that figured out as we get to conference play," McDonald said. "We need to figure out exactly what our roles are, where we're at, and I understand those things are changing constantly, but we're still working through and we'll continue to evaluate it as we move forward."
As for the men, it was a blowout from the opening tip as the Conqs roared out to an early 11-1 lead, with the only Tabor point coming on a technical free throw after R.J. McGhee was called for hanging on the rim after a sky-walking dunk.
The visiting Bluejays would not connect on their first field goal until 13:47 left in the first half, but they were already behind 13-4.
Dodge would continue to pull away, using an impressive array of dunks, layups, outside shooting and post moves, in what head coach Brady Trenkle considered the best team performance he's seen all season, in a monstrous 102-55 victory.
One player who had his way with the Tabor defense was Baltimore forward James Milton, who buried 10 of 14 shots for a game-high 22 points and was also tied for the team lead with seven rebounds.
The only other Conq to score more than nine points was Tramel White with 16. He also dished out a game-high seven assists.
It was a game that was one-sided from the beginning with Dodge outrebounding the Bluejays 49-29 and blocking seven Tabor shots, many of which had the crowd jumping from their seats.
Trenkle would go on to say that this would be the most cohesive his team has looked on the young season, and it will come in handy as they face Murray State on Saturday.
"Murray State's a good team and I've been concerned about this game for awhile because their bigs go 6 foot 11, 6 foot 9, and 6 foot 9, and we're just not that big," Trenkle said. "They're also playing for something, they're from Oklahoma and what happened to Oklahoma State, they're playing for something and when you're playing for something, you don't feel being tired. Their coach (Rutherford) played at Oklahoma State, so he's been hit to heart with this situation, so they're going to play with some emotion and we're gonna have to try to match that."
Tonight, the Conqs play the final games of the Conq Classic at the UWA, with the women set to tipoff at 5:30 p.m. against McCook Community College, while the men square off with Murray State at 7:30, which will prove to be a tier one matchup of schools on the rise.
Check out the slideshows of the action this weekend!
