Dodge City, Kan.—
The Lady Demons made history against Great Bend Friday night. Head coach Justin Briggs earned career win 101 and senior Kesha Buckner broke the Dodge City High School career steals record. With 192 steals in her career she earned two against the Lady Panthers as they stole another WAC victory 47-35.“I broke the school record for most steals in a career and I feel excited,” Buckner said. “I guess they announced it during the game but I didn’t know it and I felt awesome afterwards. It makes me want to be more aggressive and set the record higher.”
The Lady Panthers started out aggressive and took the lead early. Despite 10 steals as a team, the Lady Demons could not finish in the first half.
“I thought in the first half we missed a lot of easy lay ups,” Briggs said. “There were a few little chippy shots that we should have made and didn’t. I thought we did a good job attacking the basket. We tried to switch it up, a little man, a little zone, but again got ourselves into foul trouble so we had to go back into and rely on our zone.”
At halftime the Lady Demons were down 13-14. Briggs knew he needed to make some adjustments.
“We just talked about holding great bend to 14 points was good but the problem was we had only scored 13,” he said. “Last time we played Great Bend we had only scored two so that was a positive at halftime. We talked about attacking the basket and making those easy lay ups.”
The Lady Demons came back to the court on fire.
“In the second half I thought we came out with a little more intensity and went on a good run,” Briggs said. “We attacked the basket a little better and got to the free throw line. Anytime you can make 20 out of 28 free throws at the line you are going to give yourself a chance to win.”
The Lady Demons outscored the Lady Panthers 17-9 in the third quarter but that was not the only factor that played a vital role. Buckner did not have a chance to play in the last meeting between Dodge City and Great Bend due to an ACL injury. Tonight she greeted the Lady Panthers with full force.
“Just having her [Buckner] out there on the floor teams know what she is capable of,” Briggs said. “Last year she was All-Conference player of the year. She’s not quite back there yet but every day she is getting better. Her mind is telling her what to do but her body just hasn’t quite got there yet. It’s definitely getting there though.”
The Lady Demons continued their newfound dominance throughout the fourth quarter and sealed the victory 47-35 against Great Bend. Briggs earned his 100th win on Tuesday in Garden City so his win over Great Bend would make it 101. The school honored his 100th win after the game and he said he was proud to receive the honor.
“Honestly, I didn’t even know that happened. It’s not something that I really kept track of but I mean obviously it’s nice to get it with this group of girls especially against Garden City was good.”
The boys score bounced back and forth in a similar fashion, eventually winning as well 45-33. The Demons started out a little slow and the Panthers were ready to attack. The first quarter was all Great Bend. They outscored the Demons 16-7. Something sparked the Demon defense in the second quarter. Demon senior Trey Hallman racked up five of the teams 14 steals as he led the team to a comeback. They held Great Bend to only two points. Although Dodge City was down by one point at the half, it would not be behind for long.
The Demons emerged with a balanced offensive and defensive attack. They outscored the Panthers 13-6 in the third quarter and 15-9 in the fourth. Hallman was not only a defensive force but he also was Dodge City’s leading scorer with 15 points.
The Panthers’ Matt Marshall tried to lead a comeback with two three-point shots at the beginning of the fourth quarter but couldn’t do it alone. He was the team’s leading scorer with 10 points against Dodge City. The Demons solidified the win 45-33. They will travel to Hays on Tuesday to keep their chances alive in the WAC title hunt.
