By MACK McCLURE
Dodge City Daily Globe
Dodge City High School engraved itself in the school record books, beating Liberal 58-35 on Friday night for the first undefeated Western Athletic Conference season in DCHS girls history.
The Red Demons were never threatened in regular-season home finale at the DCHS Field House, closing the regular-season at 17-3 overall, including a perfect 8-0 in the WAC.
“We said something earlier in the season that we had an opportunity ahead of us,” DCHS head coach Justin Briggs said, “and our girls proved it tonight.
“We’ve got a great group of girls and a great group of seniors and I’m real proud how they played.”
The 8-0 mark breaks the previous best of 7-1, set two seasons ago when Justin Briggs' team tied Great
Bend for the conference crown. This time, the Demons have the WAC all to themselves.
It was the final regular-season home game for seniors Valerie Ortiz, Codi Ehrlich and Taylor Schinstock, and their teammates game them a good sendoff.
The Demons do have one more home game, though. They will host Wichita South Wednesday at 5 p.m. in a first-round Class 6A sub-state tournament game, preceding the Dodge-Wichita South boys game at 7.
Ortiz, a guard, and junior forward A'zlynn Thompson each scored 14 points to lead four Demons in double figures. Sophomore guard Kesha Buckner added 12 points and Ehrich, a forward, scored 11.
Thompson finished with a double-double, adding 12 rebounds to her 14-point output. She also had team highs in assists (four) and blocked shots (two).
The second half was merely a formality after Dodge City bolted to a 31-10 halftime lead.
A pair of 3-pointers by Libreral's Kayla Payton were the only field goals the Redskins managed in the first half. Their other points came on 4-for-11 free-throw shooting.
Meanwhile, Dodge City was hitting the Redskins from all directions. Four players broke the scoring column in the first half, with Ehrlich, Buckner and Thompson each scoring eight points and Ortiz scoring seven during the first 16 minutes.
While Liberal struggled getting into its offense, Dodge City flourished with its transition game, forcing Liberal into 17 turnovers in the first half.
Liberal closed the gap to 14-8 after one quarter, with Payton hitting her back-to-back 3s to trim an early nine-point deficit.
Dodge City jumped out to an 11-2 lead at the 2:15 mark in the first quarter, getting its final six points of the spurt on a driving layups from different players.
GIRLS
Dodge City High School 58,
Liberal 35
LIBERAL (11-9, 2-6)
Megan Campbell 1-4 0-0 3, Kayla Varnes 0-2 0-0 0, Kirsten Ross 0-2 0-1 0, Malyssa Williams 1-2 3-6 5, Destiny Hall 0-3 0-2 0, Kayla Payton 3-10 0-0 9, Lauren Sumner 1-3 1-2 3, Justice Norah 5-15 2-2 13, Emily Bayouth 0-0 0-0 0, Shaquill Bond 0-0 0-0 0, Sherika Sanchez 0-1 0-0 0, Ramey Petty 1-2 0-0 2, Amanda Collins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-44 6-13 35.
DODGE CITY (17-3, 8-0)
Ashley Stephenson 0-1 2-2 2, Jasmine Estrada 0-1 0-0 0, Valerie Ortiz 5-13 3-4 14, Brenna Briggs 0-5 0-0 0, Taylor Schinstock 1-4 1-2 3, Codi Ehrlich 4-7 3-6 11, Kesha Buckner 4-13 4-6 12, A'zlynn Thompson 7-10 0-1 14, Teghan Pencis 0-1 2-4 2, Ciera Lampe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-55 15-25 58.
Liberal 8 2 5 20 — 35
Dodge City 14 17 17 10 — 58
Three-point goals — Liberal 5-14 (Payton 3-6, Norah 1-3, Campbell 1-3, Varnes 0-1, Williams 0-1); Dodge 1-12 (Ortiz 1-6, Briggs 0-4, Ehrlich 0-1, Buckner 0-1). Rebounds — Dodge City 43 (Thompson 12, Buckner 8); Liberal 35 (Williams 11, Norah 6). Assists — Liberal 8 (Ross 3); Dodge 7 (Thompson 4); Steals — Dodge 10 (Ortiz 3, Buckner 3); Liberal 8 (Payton 3). Turnovers — Liberal 26, Dodge City 14.
DODGE CITY —
