Grizzlies lose tough battle for first place out in Dodge City

Story by Wyatt Ebersole

The Butler Men fell in a heartbreaker on the road in Dodge City in a game that was a battle for first place in the Jayhawk Conference. The loss is a brutal one for the Grizzlies as they fall to 19-6 and 13-6 in conference play. The loss will sting worse for the Grizzlies as it knocks them back down to third place in the Jayhawk Conference. The win for Dodge puts them in sole possession of first place in the conference.

The game began like many Butler games this season, a defensive battle with neither side able to gain any ground or get in rhythm early. At the under-15 media timeout, it was 6-4 Conquistadors with defense dominating the game. At the 11:04 mark, the Conqs hit a three to give themselves a five-point lead, that they made seven a minute later at 15-8, the biggest lead of the game for either side. Out of the under-10 media timeout, Treylon Payne would sink the first Grizzly three of the game to make 15-11 Dodge and a gorgeous floater 90 seconds later from Javon Grant made it a two-point game again. Grant would give the Grizzlies their first lead of the game on the next possession with a step-up, top of the key three to make it 16-15 that the Conqs would answer with a layup to make it 17-16. Dodge jumped back up by one at the 5:41 mark with a top of the key three to give them a 22-21 lead with under five minutes left in the half. The teams would go near shot for shot the rest of the half and the Conquistadors took a 31-27 lead into the locker room.

Offense was the story early in the second half as the teams combined to go 5/5 in the first two minutes of action, with Dodge City making their lead 37-32. The teams continued their back-and forth after a Treylon Payne three, the Conqs maintained a three-point lead at the under-15 media timeout. Out of the timeout, a three from Tahjae Hill tied the game at 42. Caleb Golden would put the Grizzlies in front 44-43 with a pair of free throws at the 12:50 mark, but the Conqs found a bucket to take the lead back 45-44 seconds later. The Grizzlies gained their first lead of the game of more than one at the 10:29 mark with another pair of free throws, this time from Isaac Ondekane that put the Grizzlies up 48-45. A beautiful basket inside from Williams on the next possession was answered by a Dodge jumper that made it 50-47 Grizzlies at the under-10 media timeout. The teams continued to battle with neither side giving an inch and the Grizzlies maintained the narrowest of leads, a one-point advantage with five minutes to go. Isaiah Williams had a monster slam out of the media timeout to put the Grizzlies up by four, but the Conquistadors would tie the game at 60, and then retook the lead on their next possession 62-60 with under three minutes left. Two free throws from Javon Grant with 90 seconds left gave the Grizzlies a lead, that was answered by a Dodge City corner three to put themselves back up by one 65-64 with less than a minute left. The Grizzlies found two baskets to Dodge's one to take a 68-67 lead with the clock ticking under 20 seconds. Dodge managed to find a tough turnaround jumper with 3.8 seconds left that would prove to be the difference maker as it put the Conquistadors up 69-68 to give them the win. The Grizzlies had a chance at victory with 30-foot elbow three from Javon Grant as time expired, but it was wide left, and the Grizzlies fell for the second time this year to Dodge City.

The Grizzlies host Cloud County on Saturday at 4PM. 

NOTES: Butler is 11-8 against Dodge City since 2011 and are 1-5 in the Kyle Fisher era (since 2019-20)…The Butler Men have not beaten Dodge City since December 4th, 2019… No Butler Athletics team has won a game in Dodge City's Student Activity Center since Butler Volleyball swept Dodge City on September 27th, 2021 (0-5 record since then)