The Dodge City Lady Demons have lived dangerously this season, using late comebacks to overcome early first-quarter deficits in many of their wins.
On Tuesday night, they finally got burnt after playing with fire, falling to the Pratt Greenbacks 38-34 on the road.
Once again, the Demons fell victim to another slow start against Pratt as they tried and tried to get something to fall. But time and time again, they found nothing but cold steel from the rim.
Coming off Saturday's 41-31 victory against Wichita North, the Demons found themselves in a hole as the Lady Greenbacks continued to break their full-court pressure.
At the end of the first quarter, Dodge had yet to score a point as they trailed 11-0, looking for answers to why baskets weren't falling.
With things looking bleak, the Demons turned to Alexis Sanchez, who geared up and played tenacious basketball during the second quarter. She went up hard for rebounds against the taller Pratt players while attempting to will her team back into the game.
Slowly, Dodge chipped into the lead, but not quickly enough to make a huge dent in their growing deficit. Despite being shut out in the first quarter, the Demons were able to generate a little life back into their offense, but they
found themselves in a deeper than hole than they started.
Precarious position
The Demons and head coach Justin Briggs walked into the locker room trailing 27-13, but it's not the first time the girls have found themselves in a precarious position at the half. Just a week ago, the Demons could only muster two points in the first half against Great Bend, but they were able to come back for the win.
So with that mentality, the Demons laced it up and played physical basketball in the second half, forcing the Greenbacks into uncomfortable situations and causing them to turn the ball over. The Demons slowly crept their way back into the game.
After back-to-back three pointers by Katrina Roenfeldt and Ashley Stephenson, the Demons had their batteries recharged for another second-half run.
However, the Demons had a hard time stopping Pratt on the inside, thanks to their distinct height advantage, which allowed the Greenbacks to cradle in multiple offensive rebounds.
By the end of the third quarter, the Demons had the lead down to nine and would look to jump all over the Greenback miscues in the fourth quarter.
Early in the final period, Dodge found a way to cut into Pratt's lead even further, but they weren't able to do so quickly enough.
Once the Demons got the lead down to five or six, they would come up with an empty possession, and Pratt would come down the floor and put Dodge in a deeper hole.
Eventually, the Demons would find themselves down 38-34 with under a minute to play with multiple chances to bring the game even closer. They even had an opportunity earlier on to tie the game with a three-point bucket.
Each Demon chance went begging as the final seconds ticked off the clock with the scoreboard reading 38-34 in favor of Pratt.
It was Dodge City's third loss of the season ,and it will send them into their annual Newton tournament with a list of things to work on.
They will next be in action on Jan. 26 as they will play in the first round of the tournament against the host school, Newton.
