The McPherson Middle Schoolers took the court against Hutchinson on Monday, where they came away with a clean sweep in the A and B-Team games, winning in both the 7th and 8th grade contest.
The 8th Grade A team was able to move to 4-1, pulling out a 40-39 win in the final seconds. Head Coach Tyler Brown noted, “Ashton and Carter were our most consistent players this evening.” He said, “When we needed a bucket Ashton delivered for us, if we needed a steal or a rebound, Carter delivered for us.” He mentioned he could go down the list and name what each guy does for the team. Brown added, “Most importantly, players are starting to learn their roles.”
“As a team though we have to finish at the rim so much better.” he mentioned a number of missed opportunities in the first quarter, and said, “That kind of stuff can’t happen. We also have to do a better job of not letting a guy out of a trap or getting our foot on the sideline or baseline when we are trapping.” He said, “If we can correct those two things, and we start to make teams work longer and harder on defense we might be able to lose our nickname, ‘The Cardiac Kids’.”
Brown concluded by saying, “We have yet to win a game by double digits, I knew tonight would be a great game though. I give a lot of credit to Hutchinson’s head coach, Marcus Moeder. He knows what we are trying to do inside and out. He is the one coach I compete against that seems to know McPherson basketball in its entirety. We have to be on point to make his team earn things every year.”
Scoring Summary:
Ashton Malm 17
Carter Bengtson 8
Cole Cooper 5
Jonas Emery 4
Cru Buchman 4
Dane Becker 2
The B-Team would move to 3-4, after a 30-16 win. Coach David Goerzen noted that it was good to get back on track, he said, “It was hit and miss for a while until the second half when the guys were able to get a comfortable lead.”
Goerzen added, “I liked seeing our guys step it up today and show what they can do when they’re playing well. Of course we still have some work to do but things are coming around.” He concluded by saying, “Hopefully we can keep this momentum going as we head to Salina South on Thursday.”
Scoring Summary:
Nolan Pearcy 11
Dane Becker 6
Ben Bocox 4
Finn Bauer 4
Will Domingo 2
Jayvonte Body 2
Ashton Nuss 1
The 7th Grade A-Team won by a similar score, winning 30-17, to move to 4-1 on the season. Head Coach Jay Crawford said, “It took us awhile to get started, we have not faced a zone defense all season and we did not handle it well.” He took the blame saying, “I need to prep us more on our zone offense and we will make sure our zone offense gets more reps in practice.” He added, “Our defense played well but there are areas we need to fix, but we are very proud of their effort. Coach Crawford concluded by saying, “We are getting better with still more room for improvement.”
Scoring Summary:
Tripp Pelzel 2
Jaxson Hoover 6
Kaleb Postier 9
Tre Winburn 13
The B-Team also claimed a 38-24, double-digit win over Hutchinson, moving to 3-4 overall. Crawford reflected on the B-Team by noting, “A great bounce back for our B- Team from their tournament play over the weekend.”
Out of the 11 players suited, 9 of them scored, he said, “Ryker Bascue got his first basket for the season and to see and hear the gym explode from all our players and our fans was pretty awesome. To see the smile on his face was pretty special because he works hard just like all his teammates and for him to see, hear and feel their excitement is what being part of a team is all about.”
Scoring Summary:
Lawson Ediger 1
Ryker Bascue 2
Gavin Heider 2
Logan Starks 3
Isaac Nelson 5
Colt Chapman 5
Kepple Butcher 5
Cooper Bohme 5
Brody Milleson 10
