MULVANE, Kan. – The McPherson High School basketball teams had a quick turnaround from Monday’s home make-up games against Circle with their final road game of the regular season at Mulvane, sweeping the Wildcats. The Bullpup girls won in a low-scoring comeback 28-26. The boys flushed their loss to Circle with a 75-36 win at Mulvane.
GIRLS
McPherson – 28
Mulvane – 26
Much like the first half of the game vs. Circle Monday, both teams struggled to score the ball in the first half. The Bullpup girls, however, couldn’t buy a basket for 2+ quarters as Mulvane forced turnover after turnover. McPherson trailed 16-6 at halftime against the Wildcats.
The Bullpups were able to find momentum towards the end of the 3rd quarter with timely defense plus effort plays. Trailing by eight points at the end of the 3rd, McPherson’s defense help win the game, pushing them to slowly cut the deficit closer. “We showed a lot of toughness, especially in the second half,” head coach Clint Kinnamon said. “Our defense won the game. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts. They flat out won the game for us.”
McPherson ended up getting the ball in the closing seconds trailing by one point, when Junior Maryn Sandbo caught a deflected pass on the right wing and shot home her first and only three-pointer of the game to give McPherson the lead with seven seconds left. Mulvane had a chance to win as star freshman Brittani Peschel put up a running 25-footer that missed. The Wildcats got the offensive rebound with less than a second remaining, but the putback was blocked to win the game for McPherson.
Maryn Sandbo gives McPherson the lead with 7 seconds left in a comeback victory against Mulvane 28-26.
Here’s the go-ahead shot.@MHSBullpups @sportsinkansas #KSPreps pic.twitter.com/ymM4DjVQhb
— Lane Gillespie (@LaneGillPxP) February 26, 2025
“In the huddle, I said that we were going to run the ‘Zoom’ action and try to get Brooke [Doile] downhill,” Kinnamon said about the final play. “[I said], ‘if [Mulvane’s defense] helps, who wants to take the shot in the corner?’ They kind of all looked at me and Maryn [Sandbo] said, ‘I will’. The pass [to Sandbo] got deflected, which made it an even harder shot, but it was a huge shot.”
Despite Mulvane’s loss, it was a historic senior night for guard Olivia Ellis, whose only points of the game were record-breaking. After a made three-pointer in the first half, she set a new record for the most career three-pointers hit by any Mulvane girls basketball player with 80 made perimeter shots and counting, breaking Elise Gerlach’s record of 79 between 2010-13. Ellis already owns the record for the most three’s hit in a season (39 and counting) and is tied for the most three-pointers in a single game (6).
McPherson now has a two-game winning streak following a four-game losing skid that they had prior to the Circle game. The Bullpup girls are now 8-11 on the season and are 4-5 against league opponents.
Seniors Ellie Bower and Ashton Hampton will be honored during Senior Night Thursday vs. Winfield.
Scoring:
McPherson: 5-1-8-14
Mulvane: 8-8-6-4
Individual Scoring:
McPherson: Doile – 7, Bower – 6, M. Sandbo – 6, Whitfield – 4, Jer. Alexander – 3, Alvord – 2
Mulvane: Peschel – 10, Schwanke – 6, Lazier – 5, Ellis – 3, Ensley – 2
BOYS
McPherson – 75
Mulvane – 36
Following Monday’s upset loss to Circle at home, the Bullpup Boys started off the game with their best start all season, leading 18-0 four minutes into the game before Mulvane put their first points on the board at the free throw line. The team would continue the hot stretch, leading 29-8 at the end of the first quarter and 52-17 at halftime. For reference, the Bullpups scored 51 points in the entire game in their loss to Circle Monday.
Despite the efforts of a young Mulvane team, McPherson kept their foot on the gas pedal, leading by 41 points through three quarters. Head Coach Kurt Kinnamon chose to sit all five starters in the fourth quarter with the running clock, as McPherson would end up winning 75-36. The 39-point victory is their largest margin of victory over Mulvane in history.
“That was all them (the players),” head coach Kurt Kinnamon said. “That was me saying that we have got to be better (following the Circle game) and I know that they are capable of it. I sent them all a text [Monday] night saying, ‘I still believe in you. I think you are capable of reaching the goals you have set for yourself.’ Everyone replied with the ‘Love you’ sign and Jett [Pyle] replied saying, ‘Back to work.’ I thought they did a really good job of that.”
Four Bullpups finished in double-figures and all but two players who entered the game for McPherson scored. The win for McPherson improves them to 15-4 on the year and 8-1 vs. AVCTL Div. 3 opponents. The win vs. Mulvane clinched the team a share at least of the AVCTL Div. 3 title for the third year in a row, the 11th time in the past 12 seasons, and for the 46th time in the program’s 88-year history. It also extends the streak of consecutive years finishing in the top 3 of league standings to 42 years in a row, dating back to former head coach Mike Henson’s first year in 1984. During that span, McPherson has finished in 1st place 32 times, 2nd place 9 times, and third place just once.
Five seniors will be honored on Senior Night Thursday vs. Winfield. This year’s seniors include Gabe Pyle, Ian Razak, Bishop Brown, Brody Seidl, and Brenden Doile.
Scoring:
McPherson: 29-23-17-6
Mulvane: 8-9-11-8
Individual Scoring:
McPherson: *Razak – 17, G. Pyle – 16, *Brown – 13, J. Pyle – 11, Strathman – 5, Malm – 4, Seidl – 3, Doile – 2, Becker – 2, Cooper – 2
Mulvane: Slayton – 9, Lazier – 7, Entwisle – 6, H. Myers – 5, G. Myers – 3, Clasen – 2, Harland – 2, Darling – 2
* indicates a new season high in scoring.
