The Tournament of Champions semifinal matchup between host Dodge City High School and Gardner-Edgerton had all of the earmarks of a championship game.
There was a packed house, featuring a raucous DCHS student body, at the Dodge City Civic Center in the Friday nightcap.
Every possession was critical in the tightly-contested game that went down to the wire and, of course, the outcome wasn’t determined until the final buzzer as Dodge City’s Landon Head’s desperation 3-point heave from just over 40 feet fell short at the buzzer.
As a result, the Blazers celebrated on the court as they held on for a 53-51 triumph.
With Gardner-Edgerton clinging to a 52-51 lead, the Blazers' Connor Langrehr, the coach’s son, forced a Dodge City turnover on an inbounds play at midcourt with 5.8 seconds left.
“I think Connor was disappointed because he missed some big free throws and he’s a pretty reliable free-throw shooter.
“He gets hung up on his shot, and I told him he can help win games in other ways, make a big defensive plays. It was nice for him to get the tip off the leg.”
Fouled shortly thereafter, Langrehr then sank 1 of 2 free throws after he was fouled to put the Blazers over the top.
“We should have ran something else from the set,” DCHS coach Dennis Hamilton said of the inbounds play, where Langrehr knocked the pass of DCHS point guard Rico Hogan’s leg and the ball rolled out of bounds for a turnover.
“I’m going to take a lot of the responsibility. I’m not going to put it on the kid. Langrehr made a good move, and I wish we would have done something different. Hindsight is always there. It was one of those things that wasn’t meant to be.”
DCHS post player Miles Morin came through with his best game of the season, narrowly missing a double-double with a career-high 18 points and nine rebounds.
“He got us going early, and hit 6 of 7 free throws,” Hamilton said. “He had struggled from the line as of late.
“Right now, his confidence has to be soaring. I think he’s playing some of his best basketball the last couple days. We have taken strides in the direction.”
Langrehr had 18 points and teammate Bubba Starling added 16 points, including a pair of dunks and nine rebounds.
Starling had a left-handed follow slam dunk off a teammate’s miss. It came on the heels of Dodge’s Terrance Williams rising from the right side for an alley-oop dunk.
Hogan finished with 11 points and Williams had 10.
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The Tournament of Champions semifinal matchup between host Dodge City High School and Gardner-Edgerton had all of the earmarks of a championship game.
There was a packed house, featuring a raucous DCHS student body, at the Dodge City Civic Center in the Friday nightcap.
Every possession was critical in the tightly-contested game that went down to the wire and, of course, the outcome wasn’t determined until the final buzzer as Dodge City’s Landon Head’s desperation 3-point heave from just over 40 feet fell short at the buzzer.
As a result, the Blazers celebrated on the court as they held on for a 53-51 triumph.
With Gardner-Edgerton clinging to a 52-51 lead, the Blazers' Connor Langrehr, the coach’s son, forced a Dodge City turnover on an inbounds play at midcourt with 5.8 seconds left.
“I think Connor was disappointed because he missed some big free throws and he’s a pretty reliable free-throw shooter.
“He gets hung up on his shot, and I told him he can help win games in other ways, make a big defensive plays. It was nice for him to get the tip off the leg.”
Fouled shortly thereafter, Langrehr then sank 1 of 2 free throws after he was fouled to put the Blazers over the top.
“We should have ran something else from the set,” DCHS coach Dennis Hamilton said of the inbounds play, where Langrehr knocked the pass of DCHS point guard Rico Hogan’s leg and the ball rolled out of bounds for a turnover.
“I’m going to take a lot of the responsibility. I’m not going to put it on the kid. Langrehr made a good move, and I wish we would have done something different. Hindsight is always there. It was one of those things that wasn’t meant to be.”
DCHS post player Miles Morin came through with his best game of the season, narrowly missing a double-double with a career-high 18 points and nine rebounds.
“He got us going early, and hit 6 of 7 free throws,” Hamilton said. “He had struggled from the line as of late.
“Right now, his confidence has to be soaring. I think he’s playing some of his best basketball the last couple days. We have taken strides in the direction.”
Langrehr had 18 points and teammate Bubba Starling added 16 points, including a pair of dunks and nine rebounds.
Starling had a left-handed follow slam dunk off a teammate’s miss. It came on the heels of Dodge’s Terrance Williams rising from the right side for an alley-oop dunk.
Hogan finished with 11 points and Williams had 10.
67th Annual Tournament of Champions
At Dodge City
Dodge City Civic Center
Friday
Semifinals
Gardner-Edgerton 53, Dodge City 51
GARDNER-EDGERTON (5-3)
Bubba Starling 7-16 2-3 16, Jalen Jones 1-2 2-5 4, Corbin Haas 1-2 1-2 3, Dexter Newsome 2-6 0-1 4, Jayden Juenemann 3-7 0-0 8, Connor Langrehr 6-8 4-7 18, Dan Mauszycki 0-0 0-2 0, Brandon Reed 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-41 9-20 53.
DODGE CITY (8-2)
Rico Hogan 4 2-2 11, Trey Hallman 0-4 4-6 4, Landon Head 0-6 0-0 0, Benito Sotelo 1-1 0-2 2, Brandon Howarth 2-4 2-2 6, Terrance Williams 5-11 0-1 10, Miles Morin 6-10 6-7 18, Derek Ridenour 0-0 0-0 0, Todd Middleton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-47 14-20 51.
Gardner-Edg 13 15 11 14 — 53
Dodge City 15 9 12 15 — 51
Three-point goals — Gardner 4-9 (Langrehr 2-4, Juenemann 2-3, Jones 0-1, Starling 0-1); Dodge 1-9 (Hogan 1-5, Williams 0-2, Hallman 0-1, Head 0-1). Total fouls — Gardner 17, Dodge 14.
Fouled out — Juenemann. Rebounds — Dodge 33 (Morin 9, Williams 5); Gardner 26 (Starlilng 9, Langrehr 6). Assists — Dodge 11 (Hogan 4, Head 3); Gardner 10 (Starling 3). Steals — Gardner 12 (Starling 4); Dodge 8 (Hallman 3, Head 3). Turnovers — Dodge 14, Gardner 13. Blocked shots — Gardner 5 (Langrehr 3); Dodge 4 (Morin 3).
