Butler downs Dodge City, 87-57, in first-round playoff game

The Butler women easily moved into the next round of the Region VI Tournament with an 87-57 home win over Dodge City on Thursday.

The third-seeded Grizzlies (24-6) will face No. 6 seed Cowley (23-8), which destroyed Garden City by a 112-51 score on Thursday. The game will be at 5 p.m. on Monday at Hartman Arena in Park City.

Dodge City brought just five players to El Dorado for the playoff game, but the Conquistadors hung tough early behind the hot shooting of Alexus Johnson. Her 3-pointer tied the game 9-9 with 5:39 left in the opening quarter. Her jumper with 4:08 left in the quarter cut Butler's lead to just one point at 14-13.

Eventually, Butler started to pull away, going on an 11-0 run that included four points from Raven Prince and a 3-pointer by Nakylia Carter.

Johnson would score a bucket to stop Butler's run with 25 seconds left in the period, but the Grizzlies led 25-15 at the end of the quarter.

Kendriana Washington then scored the first seven points of the second quarter and Butler would get a 3-pointer from Dakota Vann just before the half, taking a 51-29 lead at the intermission.

Dodge City actually outscored Butler in the third quarter, 16-8, and cut Butler's lead to just 14 points going to the fourth.

Butler pumped in 28 points in the final period, however, and pulled away again to win by 30.

Butler had five players in double figures, led by 17 from Kyeria Hannah. She just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Raven Prince did record a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Dakota Vann and Kendriana Washington had 15 points apiece while Imari Bell scored 11 off the bench – just one shy of her season best.

Dodge City's Alexus Johnson finished with a game-high 24 points for the Conquistadors. Dodge City's season ends at 4-27.