AUGUSTA, Kan. – The No. 9 seed McPherson High School Girls Basketball team went on the road against No. 8 Augusta for their first postseason game of the season, finally getting the edge on AHS 41-38 after falling to them in the two regular season matchups.
The general consensus knew that this game would be close from start to finish after the first meeting this season finished with a 10-point Augusta win and the second win was only by four points for the Orioles. Such would be the case Wednesday, March 5 as McPherson led for nearly the entire contest, but by no more than nine points. McPherson hit key free throws down the stretch, but Augusta had the chance to tie the game to end regulation. McPherson’s defense kept the sharp-shooting Bourm twins from getting an open shot, forcing Ragan Pfeifer to put up a deep three at the buzzer which missed wide left at the buzzer, giving McPherson the 41-38 victory.
Augusta’s normally incredible three-point shooting fell quiet Wednesday, shooting just 4/21 from distance, despite making five more baskets than McPherson overall. The biggest difference maker for McPherson’s win was their defense and free throw shooting, forcing 17 turnovers off of nine steals and converting at the charity stripe 16 times on 25 attempts (64%), including junior forward Brooke Doile shooting 10/11 at the free throw line individually. Doile led all scorers with 12 points despite making just one basket.
McPherson’s shooting was efficient overall, shooting 10/21 (47.6%) on the floor and 5/12 (41.7%) on three-point shots. The offense, however, did commit 18 turnovers, which kept Augusta in the ball game.
The team will look to play spoiler to the No. 1 seed Wellington on the road Saturday. Wellington finished the regular season 19-1 on the season, with their lone loss coming in overtime to undefeated 5A opponent Hays. The KBCA also ranked Wellington as the No. 1 team in 4A Girls Basketball in their final rankings of the season. The game will also be a rematch of the 2024 State Semifinal matchup, as Wellington defeated the Bullpups a season ago in overtime to send them to the State Championship game before falling to Bishop Miege. McPherson ended up winning the Third Place title last season.
Saturday’s game will be held at Wellington High School and will tip off at 5:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on 98.9/1540 KMCP and will be streamed on video on adastraradio.com/tv.
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Team Scoring:
MHS: 12-10-9-10
AHS: 9-9-9-11
Individual Scoring:
McPherson: Doile – 12, Bower – 8, M. Sandbo – 8, Alvord – 7, Whitfield – 4, Jen. Alexander – 2
Augusta: Ella Bourm – 14, Ratcliff – 7, Emma Bourm – 6, Lichlyter – 5, Pfeifer – 5, Fleming – 1
