Dodge City High School boys' basketball coach Dennis Hamilton warned his team Tuesday night that visiting rival Garden City would ultimately make a run at the Red Demons in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both.
Sure enough, with four minute remaining, Garden City, deliberately chipping away at a 32-19 halftime defict, crawled within 50-44 after Quentin Taylor sank the first of two free throws.
The Demons, ranked No. 4 in the latest Class 6A Kansas Basketball Coaches Association poll, weren't about to be denied, finishing strong in posting a 59-46 victory.
Dodge City post player Miles Morin scored on a power move and then forward Landon Head made a steal and drove coast-to-coast for a layup and a 54-44 DCHS lead with 3:11 remaining.
After another Garden City turnover, playmaking guard Rico Hogan converted a pair of free throws on the other end to push the margin up to 56-44. Head added two free throws with 1:52 left and suddenly, the lead was back up to 14 and the Buffs were finished.
"Give Garden City a lot of credit," Hamilton said. "They weren't going to lay down. I told the kids at halftime, 'Regardless of the size of our lead, they're going to come back and hit you with their best shot.' "
Funny thing, the Buffaloes (3-3, 0-1) gave Dodge City (5-1, 1-0) their best shot late after missing crucial shots throughout the game. GCHS made only 15-of-48 shots from the floor (31.3), including a miserable 2-for-17 from 3-point land.
Dodge City's Terrence Williams, a senior forward, who missed the previous game with an ankle sprain, made a triumphant return to the lineup, scoring a game-high 15 points on 7-for-13 field-goal shooting. He also made his only 3-point shot.
` "Originally, it was 7-to-10 days (for Williams' recovery)," Hamilton said. "Through his cold-to-hot therapy and he got himself back. Maybe it wasn't as bad as we first thought.
"He's going to be hurting (this morning). We got 23 minutes from him and we probably wanted him in the 18-to-19 range. I don't think he dropped off much and he might have been the difference in the ballgame ... who knows?"
The Demons got a spark from senior guard Benny Sotelo, who hit 4-of-5 shots from the floor, including both of his 3-point tries. Sotelo made a desperation heave from in front of the half-court line to give the Red Demons a 32-19 halftime lead.
"We're going to put it on record that it was bottom-line luck," Hamilton said of Sotelo's long-range basket. "But when you shoot them, they have an opportunity to go in.
"I liked his shot earlier, coming off the right side and shot that 3 in rhythm. He did some things well for us and it's always great to go into the locker room at halftime with momentum and that obviously, that gave us a nice swing."
Hogan hit a trio of 3-pointers and finished with nine first-half points. Sotelo added eight first-half points and Williams scored seven in the opening 16 minutes.
The Demons made 11 of 22 field goals in the first half (50 percent), including hitting 6 of 8 from downtown. They finished the game at the same exact rate, hitting 50 percent from the field (21-for-42).
Garden City, which missed 17 of its first 21 shots from the floor, including 1-for-8 on 3s, were able to stay in contention by hitting 10-of-13 free throws in first half.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Western Athletic Conference
At DCHS Fieldhouse
BOYS
TUESDAY
Dodge City 59, Garden City 46
GARDEN CITY (3-3, 0-1)
Cody Bernbeck 3-10 2-2 8, Gerardo Holguin 2-5 2-2 6, Keith Curran 2-3 1-1 5, Quentin Taylor 2-3 1-2 5, Patrick Garcia 1-5 2-2 4, Jake Curran 2-13 2-3 8, Chris Ruiz 3-8 4-6 10, Seth Alexander 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-48 14-18 46.
DODGE CITY (5-1, 1-0)
Rico Hogan 4-9 3-5 14, Trey Hallman 1-5 1-3 3, Landon Head 2-4 2-2 6, Benito Sotelo 4-5 3-4 13, Matt Esquibel 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Howarth 0-1 0-0 0, Terrence Williams 7-13 0-0 15, Miles Morin 2-3 0-0 4, Terell Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Derek Ridenour 1-2 2-3 4. Totals 21-42 11-17 59.
Garden City 5 14 18 9 — 46
Dodge City 13 19 13 14 — 59
Three-point goals — Dodge City 6-10 (Hogan 3-6, Sotelo 2-2, Williams 1-1, Head 0-1); Garden City 2-17 (Curran 2-9, Bernbeck 0-3, Garcia 0-3, Holguin 0-1, Ruiz 0-1). Rebounds — Garden City 33 (Holguin 6, Garcia 5, Ruiz 5); Dodge City 29 (Morin 5, Head 5, Hallman 5). Assists — Dodge City 17 (Hogan 4, Hallman); Garden City 6 (Holguin 2, Curran). Steals — Dodge City 9 (Sotelo 3, Williams 2, Head 2); Garden City 7 (Garcia 2, Bernbeck 2, Ruiz 2). Turnovers — Garden City 16 (Bernbeck 5); Dodge City 15 (Sotelo 4, Williams 3). Blocked shots — Dodge City 5 (Morin 3); Garden City 1 (Ruiz). Total fouls —Dodge City 16, Garden City 14. Fouled out — None.
DODGE CITY —
