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Friday night, the Dodge City Red Demons showed why they are still the team to beat in the Western Athletic Conference, going on the road to easily handle Great Bend 63-37.
For the Demons, it was their third straight win on 2012 and even though the Demons won by 39 last week against Larned, this victory may have been their most impressive of the season.
"One of my assistant coaches turned to me during the third quarter and asked me if I've ever heard it be this quiet, in this gym, with this many people," said head coach Dennis Hamilton. "I looked back to him and told him I have not, to be quite honest. This is one of those tough trips in the WAC, but we were able to take the crowd out of it."
Things began inauspiciously for the Demons, as an early Bowman three-pointer had the student section rocking as the Panthers claimed an early two-point cushion.
After a couple of Dodge misses and turnovers, two Great Bend layups and another Bowman bucket had the Demons taken back as their deficit quickly grew to eight.
However, behind the play of Trey Hallman, the Demons would come storming back. After five unanswered points from the senior captain, they found themselves down only three.
But the momentum would be short lived as a free throw and offensive rebound, turned into a layup, stretched the Panther lead back up to six at 14-8.
That would be the last time Great Bend would see the lead, or a point, for the rest of the first quarter.
Hallman, proving why he's one of the great talents in the Western Athletic Conference, turned in six consecutive points, including a spinning layup while being fouled, to tie the game at 14.
On the attempt for a three-point play, Hallman's missed free throw shot found its way into the hands of Matt Goedeken and into the net, giving Dodge the two-point lead. A three-point play the hard way from Isaiah Bradshaw gave the Demons a 19-14 lead at the end of one.
It was much of the same story to begin the second quarter, as another Bradshaw bucket had the Demons up by seven, which would only get bigger as the quarter played on.
Jumpers by Jace Larson and Goedeken increased the lead for head coach Dennis Hamilton's crew to nine, and Bradshaw three from Salina gave the Demons a big 12-point lead.
Dodge City would finish the quarter strong, entering the halftime break with a 30-17 advantage over the struggling Panthers.
The Demons, who have emphasized aggressive rebounding throughout their winning streak, out-rebounded the Panthers 19-2 in the first half, which has been a catalyst behind their fine play.
Without taking their foot off the gas pedal coming out of the locker room, the combination of Hallman and Bradshaw continued to wreak havoc on the Panther defense, penetrating through the paint and getting high percentage shots at the rim.
Despite having a comfortable double digit lead, the Panthers' Bowman began to catch fire, showing why Great Bend missed him so dearly during their first few games of the season.
Behind a couple of nifty baskets from Bowman, including a three-pointer, Great Bend was able to close the gap, but was never able to decrease the deficit down to double digits.
By the end of the third quarter, Hallman had 15 points and Bradshaw had 10 as the Demons carried a 48-33 lead into the fourth quarter on the road.
As the fourth quarter got underway, Dodge City was able to increase their lead even more, using key buckets from Goedeken and Davis, which included some feisty rebounding inside the paint for the Demons.
A layup from Larson with just under five minutes to play in the fourth gave the Demons their first lead greater than 20.
With a game the following day against Wichita North, Hamilton had the option of using his bench to save the legs of his current starters, which is a big plus going into the 6 p.m. contest with Conner Frankamp.
Another three-point bomb from Bradshaw iced the game for the Demons, giving them an insurmountable 57-33 lead.
Friday night's win over Great Bend could be a big stepping stone for the Demons, who continue their hold over the WAC, showing that the road to the league championship goes through Dodge.
Since going 1-3 to begin the season, Hamilton's squad has ran off three wins in a row, including 2-0 in conference play, which is the biggest accomplishment for the Demons, who look to win a third consecutive league crown despite losing seven of their top eight players from a season ago.
It was by far the best shooting night of the year for the Demons, as they fired off an amazing 65 percent from the field on 28-of-43 field goal attempts.
"This is obviously our best shooting performance of the year so far, being only seven games in, but it seemed like a lot of things were falling for a lot of kids," Hamilton said. "When you shoot the ball that well, it has a tendency to make going to the other end of the floor easier, that's the grind it out end when you have to bend your legs and get after it. But we did shoot the ball awfully well."
But the most eye-popping statistic was that the Demons outrebounded the Panthers 37-9, which is what Hamilton and his staff have been preaching since the beginning of winter break.
"We've preached on it and we've had some kids step up and meet the challenge," Hamilton said. "Rebound has been a key, board aggressiveness is what we call it and since Christmas this team has made strides in that area."
Next up for the Demons will be a 6 p.m. tip off with Wichita North and Kansas Jayhawk commit Conner Frankamp inside the field house as they look to push their winning streak to four games.
Friday night, the Dodge City Red Demons showed why they are still the team to beat in the Western Athletic Conference, going on the road to easily handle Great Bend 63-37.
For the Demons, it was their third straight win on 2012 and even though the Demons won by 39 last week against Larned, this victory may have been their most impressive of the season.
"One of my assistant coaches turned to me during the third quarter and asked me if I've ever heard it be this quiet, in this gym, with this many people," said head coach Dennis Hamilton. "I looked back to him and told him I have not, to be quite honest. This is one of those tough trips in the WAC, but we were able to take the crowd out of it."
Things began inauspiciously for the Demons, as an early Bowman three-pointer had the student section rocking as the Panthers claimed an early two-point cushion.
After a couple of Dodge misses and turnovers, two Great Bend layups and another Bowman bucket had the Demons taken back as their deficit quickly grew to eight.
However, behind the play of Trey Hallman, the Demons would come storming back. After five unanswered points from the senior captain, they found themselves down only three.
But the momentum would be short lived as a free throw and offensive rebound, turned into a layup, stretched the Panther lead back up to six at 14-8.
That would be the last time Great Bend would see the lead, or a point, for the rest of the first quarter.
Hallman, proving why he's one of the great talents in the Western Athletic Conference, turned in six consecutive points, including a spinning layup while being fouled, to tie the game at 14.
On the attempt for a three-point play, Hallman's missed free throw shot found its way into the hands of Matt Goedeken and into the net, giving Dodge the two-point lead. A three-point play the hard way from Isaiah Bradshaw gave the Demons a 19-14 lead at the end of one.
It was much of the same story to begin the second quarter, as another Bradshaw bucket had the Demons up by seven, which would only get bigger as the quarter played on.
Jumpers by Jace Larson and Goedeken increased the lead for head coach Dennis Hamilton's crew to nine, and Bradshaw three from Salina gave the Demons a big 12-point lead.
Dodge City would finish the quarter strong, entering the halftime break with a 30-17 advantage over the struggling Panthers.
The Demons, who have emphasized aggressive rebounding throughout their winning streak, out-rebounded the Panthers 19-2 in the first half, which has been a catalyst behind their fine play.
Without taking their foot off the gas pedal coming out of the locker room, the combination of Hallman and Bradshaw continued to wreak havoc on the Panther defense, penetrating through the paint and getting high percentage shots at the rim.
Despite having a comfortable double digit lead, the Panthers' Bowman began to catch fire, showing why Great Bend missed him so dearly during their first few games of the season.
Behind a couple of nifty baskets from Bowman, including a three-pointer, Great Bend was able to close the gap, but was never able to decrease the deficit down to double digits.
By the end of the third quarter, Hallman had 15 points and Bradshaw had 10 as the Demons carried a 48-33 lead into the fourth quarter on the road.
As the fourth quarter got underway, Dodge City was able to increase their lead even more, using key buckets from Goedeken and Davis, which included some feisty rebounding inside the paint for the Demons.
A layup from Larson with just under five minutes to play in the fourth gave the Demons their first lead greater than 20.
With a game the following day against Wichita North, Hamilton had the option of using his bench to save the legs of his current starters, which is a big plus going into the 6 p.m. contest with Conner Frankamp.
Another three-point bomb from Bradshaw iced the game for the Demons, giving them an insurmountable 57-33 lead.
Friday night's win over Great Bend could be a big stepping stone for the Demons, who continue their hold over the WAC, showing that the road to the league championship goes through Dodge.
Since going 1-3 to begin the season, Hamilton's squad has ran off three wins in a row, including 2-0 in conference play, which is the biggest accomplishment for the Demons, who look to win a third consecutive league crown despite losing seven of their top eight players from a season ago.
It was by far the best shooting night of the year for the Demons, as they fired off an amazing 65 percent from the field on 28-of-43 field goal attempts.
"This is obviously our best shooting performance of the year so far, being only seven games in, but it seemed like a lot of things were falling for a lot of kids," Hamilton said. "When you shoot the ball that well, it has a tendency to make going to the other end of the floor easier, that's the grind it out end when you have to bend your legs and get after it. But we did shoot the ball awfully well."
But the most eye-popping statistic was that the Demons outrebounded the Panthers 37-9, which is what Hamilton and his staff have been preaching since the beginning of winter break.
"We've preached on it and we've had some kids step up and meet the challenge," Hamilton said. "Rebound has been a key, board aggressiveness is what we call it and since Christmas this team has made strides in that area."
Next up for the Demons will be a 6 p.m. tip off with Wichita North and Kansas Jayhawk commit Conner Frankamp inside the field house as they look to push their winning streak to four games.
