HAYS, Kan. – The McPherson High School basketball teams took their longest road trip of the season to Hays Monday, Feb. 17, with both varsity teams heading back home following tough defeats.
GIRLS
Hays – 60
McPherson – 29
The Bullpup girls team was back to near-full strength, with players finally returning after injury or illness. The defense, effort, and tenacity was the bright spot of the game, especially in the beginning of the game. They had the unenviable task of facing an experienced lineup, who came into the game undefeated on the year. McPherson only trailed 15-11 in the middle of the second quarter, but the foul counts picked up near that point.
Hays went on to get on big runs down the stretch with their two stars of the team, star freshmen Jenna Schmeidler and Ottawa commit Molly Martin, who combined for 42 of the team’s 60 points.
The loss drops McPherson to 6-10 on the season. Hays improves to 17-0.
Scoring:
McPherson: 9 – 5 – 11 – 4
Hays: 15 – 18 – 10 – 17
Individual:
MHS: Doile 7, Whitfield 7, Jensyn Alexander 6, Alvord 4, M. Sandbo 3, Bower 2
HHS: Schmeidler 23, Martin 19, Armbruster 6, Z. Winter 4, Dreher 3, Linenberger 2, Buckles 2, Cunningham 1
BOYS
Hays – 57
McPherson – 52
This game was close for the entire 32 minutes, with nobody leading by more than eight points in the contest. The game was tied after the 1st quarter at 13 apiece before McPherson ended the first half on a run with a 29-24 lead. The Bullpups ended up with a 41-36 lead after three quarters, but the Hays Indians started the 4th quarter on an 11-2 run to put them up 47-43. Clutch shooting put McPherson closer to the game, but clutch free throws by Hays pulled them away for the victory.
Senior Gabe Pyle followed up Friday’s historic 44 point performance by scoring 25 points Monday, which fell two points shy of tying George Czaplinski’s record for the most points in back-to-back games when he scored 27 against Manhattan after his 44 point performance in 1962. Pyle hit 6 threes, combining to now hit 17 from behind the arc in the last two games combined.
The Bullpups fall to 13-3 on the season, Hays moves up to 10-7.
Scoring:
McPherson: 13 – 14 – 12 – 11
Hays: 13 – 11 – 12 – 21
Individual:
MHS: G. Pyle 25, Brown 10, Razak 6, Malm 4, Strathman 4, J. Pyle 3
HHS: Ruder 18, Cano 10, Johnson 8, Fox 8, Lindenmeyer 7, Oakley 6
The games originally scheduled against Circle Tuesday, Feb. 18 were postponed to Monday, Feb. 24. The Bullpups will set their sights on Augusta for Winter Homecoming Friday, Feb. 21 at the Roundhouse. The varsity girls will tip off at 6pm and the boys will start at approx. 7:30.
Bullpup Basketball coverage can be heard on 98.9/1540 KMCP, streaming live on the Ad Astra Radio app for free on Apple and Android, and the video livestream can be seen on our Ad Astra TV page.
