Cloud County Athletics
DODGE CITY - Trailing by 15 in the opening quarter of play and by as many as 19 in the fourth quarter, a late push from the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team would get bring the T-Birds within seven before running out of time to complete a comeback in a 67-57 road loss to Dodge City Community College inside the Student Activities Center in Dodge City.
Unable to secure a second season sweep of a Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference opponent, Cloud County is now 11-15 overall and 7-13 in the KJCCC while Dodge City moves to 15-10 overall and 10-9 in conference.
Getting off to a start that was anything but ideal, CCCC would be held scoreless for the first 3:31 of the game that would allow the Conquistadors to score the first nine points of the game and jump out to a 9-2 lead following a pair of Kay Hauata Phillips free-throws. Dodge City would continue their run by scoring the next eight points to take a 17-2 lead with 4:25 left in the first quarter as Cloud County's first made field goal would not come until a Kennedy Becker layup with 4:14 left in the quarter. Despite the start, the T-Birds would be able to rally with nine of the final 12 points to get back within single digits by trailing 20-11 at the end of the first.
CCCC would appear to still be struggling offensively well into the second as a Becker layup would be the only Cloud County points through the first three-plus minutes of the period before a Shakira Smith free throw and Paula Puzule three would finally spark the T-Birds offensively. Helping the cause would be a strong defensive effort from Cloud County that would see Dodge City held to just one field goal and a total of two points in the second quarter as the final 8:08 of the first half would go without a point from the Conquistadors. A made free throw from Becker would tie things up at 22-22 with 2:21 left in the half as Puzule would bury her third trey of the game in the final 90 seconds to put CCCC up 25-22 heading into halftime.
Neither team would be able to take control of the game in the opening moments of the third quarter as DC3 would tie the game on their opening possession but not be able to lead by more than two in the opening 3:57 of the second half. Trailing 28-26, Cloud County would get three Rori Cox free throws on two separate possessions to retake the lead by the slimmest of margins at 29-28. Both teams would then trade buckets before Dodge City would go on a 12-2 run to open a double-digit lead again at 43-33. Cox would manage to get the T-Birds back within seven on a made three on Cloud County's final possession of the quarter, but a foul would allow DC3 to go to the free-throw line and split a pair of free throws to lead 44-36 heading to the fourth.
Another slow start to a quarter would prove to be problematic for CCCC as the Conquistadors would manage to score the first nine points of the quarter and 12 of the first 14 to threaten to put the game out of reach. The Conquistador lead would then reach the 20-point mark on a Samantha Koeberer three with 5:36 left in the game before Cloud County would finally be able to put things together on both ends of the floor to try and make a late comeback. After seeing Te Araroa Sopoaga drive to the hoop for a layup, CCCC would manage to build momentum by scoring nine of the next 10 points to get back within 10 at 60-50 with 1:22 remaining. After a made Dodge City free throw, Sopoaga would make another drive to the hole and get the lead down to single-digits as time would begin to become a factor. Doing whatever they could to try and continue their comeback, Cloud County would get the deficit down to seven on a Cox free throw with 31 seconds left as the comeback would prove to be too little too late.
Starting the game four-for-10 from beyond the arc, Cloud County would finish the contest by going one-of-10 in the second half to finish with a 25.0 percent three-point shooting percentage. Things would not fare much better from the field as the T-Birds would shoot 35.2 percent (19-of-54) from the floor and get out-rebounded 36-35. Dodge City would manage to double up CCCC 30-15 in points off turnovers and 8-4 in second-chance points as both categories would play a crucial role in determining the outcome.
Both Cox (17) and Puzule (14) would finish in double figures for Cloud County with Cox grabbing seven rebounds and recording three steals. Sopoaga would finish with eight points and eight rebounds while Becker would grab a game-high 14 points in addition to scoring six points. DC3 would be led by a 17-point effort from Jenna Rose Mafua.
What's next?
Cloud County will look to right the ship with a quick turnaround to take on a reeling Coffeyville Community College squad at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. The Red Ravens were off on Saturday but have lost four straight games dating back to Jan. 31 and now sit at 15-9 overall and 9-9 in the KJCCC after getting out to a 15-5 start to the season. In the previous matchup this year back on Jan. 5, the T-Birds earned a 74-51 victory in what was one of Coffeyville's biggest margin of defeats this year.