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Amazing. Incredible. Unfathomable.
These are just some of the words that can describe the game between Dodge City and Great Bend on Friday night.
After being down 20-4 and being shut out in the second quarter, the Lady Demons roared back to life and used an Ashley Stephenson buzzer-beating three to cap off an astounding comeback to defeat the Panthers, 25-22.
During the first quarter, the Demons could not get anything going offensively, failing to capitalize on the Panther miscues.
After a Great Bend basket, Brenna Briggs would answer back for Dodge City, taking a missed three from the Panthers and turning it into a bucket at the other end, tying things up at two.
However, as crazy as it may sound, that would be the last time the Demons would see points throughout the rest of the first half.
Several Dodge City turnovers and offensive rebounding from the Panthers would lead to six straight points to end the first quarter, as the Demons found themselves down 8-2.
Great Bend continued to force the issue on the defensive end, forcing the Demons into 20 turnovers in the first half alone, turning that into valuable points, including a big three-pointer to give them a 16-2 halftime lead.
Dodge High would come out of the halftime break with an adjusted attitude during the halftime warmups, but that would not equate to a change in fortune for Briggs and company.
Two free throws from Stephenson, who had been quiet throughout the first half, gave the Demons their first points in over a quarter of action. The score would remain 18-4 in favor of the Panthers until another Great Bend offensive rebound turned into points for the home team, increasing their lead to 16 points.
"I was at a loss for words going into the half," said head coach Justin Briggs. "I would have rather just sat out here on the bench, but I told them that while we might have only scored two points, we held them to 16. All we needed to do was execute and not get flustered."
However, the Demons would begin their uphill climb with a Roenfeldt field goal, the team's second made bucket of the game, beginning the comeback of a lifetime for the young, scrappy squad from Dodge.
A pair of Cierra Lampe free throws would close out the scoring in the third quarter, as the Demons would find themselves down 20-8, but still within striking distance.
The fourth quarter became time for the Demons to pull out all the stops to attempt to keep the Panthers winless, as Stephenson opened up the scoring with a bucket to make it 20-10.
Just when you thought things couldn't get any more interesting, the momentum began to switch sides in a major way.
Down by 10, Roenfeldt and Alexis Sanchez buckets cut into the Panther lead even deeper, bringing the Demon team and fan base back to life. After two missed free throws from Great Bend, the Demons charged down the court and, despite being cold for the entire night, Briggs parked a three-pointer from deep to bring the deficit to only three.
The anticipation from the Dodge sideline could be felt on the court as the inexperienced Panthers haven't had much of an opportunity to play with a lead late. It was apparent as the turnovers began to buildup, which turned into more and more confidence for the visiting Demons.
A deep two point basket from Lampe brought the Demons to within one, which would remain that way for the next two minutes.
Could the Demons pull off one of the great comebacks of the season?
Coming off of an inbounds play, Roenfeldt snuck under the Panther defense and rolled in a shot to give the Demons their first lead of the game, 21-20, sending the Demon faithful into a joyous uproar.
That would leave the game to be decided in a two minute dash to the finish, as both sides would exchange free throw attempts and turnovers, as neither team could pull away.
With 19.2 seconds left and the score tied at 22, Great Bend was able to inbound the ball, but with 13 seconds left, Sanchez stole an errant dribble and found Stephenson.
The next moments could go down as the play that changed the Demons' season forever.
As the seconds ticked down, Stephenson released a three-point attempt and found nothing but the bottom of the net, winning the game for Dodge City 25-22 over the Panthers, coming back from 20-4 down to claim the three-point victory.
"That had to be a back-breaker for them as we began clawing back into it," Briggs said. "We should've never been in that position, but they were keying in on Ashley and Brenna, and we had wide open looks with the other girls, we just couldn't cash it in."
Stephenson led all scorers with seven points, including the game-winning shot, while Roenfeldt added in six points and four rebounds, and Briggs put in five points and had five steals.
The Demons improve to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the Western Athletic Conference, despite shooting 27 percent from the field and turning the ball over 31 times.
"Thank goodness the basketball gods were with us and we could sneak out of here tonight with a win," Briggs said. "It wasn't pretty, but it's a win."
Now the Demons will turn around and play Wichita North this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. inside the Dodge City Field House, which was moved up from an original start time of 6.
Amazing. Incredible. Unfathomable.
These are just some of the words that can describe the game between Dodge City and Great Bend on Friday night.
After being down 20-4 and being shut out in the second quarter, the Lady Demons roared back to life and used an Ashley Stephenson buzzer-beating three to cap off an astounding comeback to defeat the Panthers, 25-22.
During the first quarter, the Demons could not get anything going offensively, failing to capitalize on the Panther miscues.
After a Great Bend basket, Brenna Briggs would answer back for Dodge City, taking a missed three from the Panthers and turning it into a bucket at the other end, tying things up at two.
However, as crazy as it may sound, that would be the last time the Demons would see points throughout the rest of the first half.
Several Dodge City turnovers and offensive rebounding from the Panthers would lead to six straight points to end the first quarter, as the Demons found themselves down 8-2.
Great Bend continued to force the issue on the defensive end, forcing the Demons into 20 turnovers in the first half alone, turning that into valuable points, including a big three-pointer to give them a 16-2 halftime lead.
Dodge High would come out of the halftime break with an adjusted attitude during the halftime warmups, but that would not equate to a change in fortune for Briggs and company.
Two free throws from Stephenson, who had been quiet throughout the first half, gave the Demons their first points in over a quarter of action. The score would remain 18-4 in favor of the Panthers until another Great Bend offensive rebound turned into points for the home team, increasing their lead to 16 points.
"I was at a loss for words going into the half," said head coach Justin Briggs. "I would have rather just sat out here on the bench, but I told them that while we might have only scored two points, we held them to 16. All we needed to do was execute and not get flustered."
However, the Demons would begin their uphill climb with a Roenfeldt field goal, the team's second made bucket of the game, beginning the comeback of a lifetime for the young, scrappy squad from Dodge.
A pair of Cierra Lampe free throws would close out the scoring in the third quarter, as the Demons would find themselves down 20-8, but still within striking distance.
The fourth quarter became time for the Demons to pull out all the stops to attempt to keep the Panthers winless, as Stephenson opened up the scoring with a bucket to make it 20-10.
Just when you thought things couldn't get any more interesting, the momentum began to switch sides in a major way.
Down by 10, Roenfeldt and Alexis Sanchez buckets cut into the Panther lead even deeper, bringing the Demon team and fan base back to life. After two missed free throws from Great Bend, the Demons charged down the court and, despite being cold for the entire night, Briggs parked a three-pointer from deep to bring the deficit to only three.
The anticipation from the Dodge sideline could be felt on the court as the inexperienced Panthers haven't had much of an opportunity to play with a lead late. It was apparent as the turnovers began to buildup, which turned into more and more confidence for the visiting Demons.
A deep two point basket from Lampe brought the Demons to within one, which would remain that way for the next two minutes.
Could the Demons pull off one of the great comebacks of the season?
Coming off of an inbounds play, Roenfeldt snuck under the Panther defense and rolled in a shot to give the Demons their first lead of the game, 21-20, sending the Demon faithful into a joyous uproar.
That would leave the game to be decided in a two minute dash to the finish, as both sides would exchange free throw attempts and turnovers, as neither team could pull away.
With 19.2 seconds left and the score tied at 22, Great Bend was able to inbound the ball, but with 13 seconds left, Sanchez stole an errant dribble and found Stephenson.
The next moments could go down as the play that changed the Demons' season forever.
As the seconds ticked down, Stephenson released a three-point attempt and found nothing but the bottom of the net, winning the game for Dodge City 25-22 over the Panthers, coming back from 20-4 down to claim the three-point victory.
"That had to be a back-breaker for them as we began clawing back into it," Briggs said. "We should've never been in that position, but they were keying in on Ashley and Brenna, and we had wide open looks with the other girls, we just couldn't cash it in."
Stephenson led all scorers with seven points, including the game-winning shot, while Roenfeldt added in six points and four rebounds, and Briggs put in five points and had five steals.
The Demons improve to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the Western Athletic Conference, despite shooting 27 percent from the field and turning the ball over 31 times.
"Thank goodness the basketball gods were with us and we could sneak out of here tonight with a win," Briggs said. "It wasn't pretty, but it's a win."
Now the Demons will turn around and play Wichita North this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. inside the Dodge City Field House, which was moved up from an original start time of 6.
