PYLE, BROWN, ALLEN – TOP SCORING

By William

SALINA – The McPherson Middle School 8th grade boys basketball teams finally got their season underway on Thursday and scored a split of two games on the road in Salina with the ‘A’ team scoring a 52-20 victory over Salina Lakewood while the ‘B’ team lost 38-12.

‘A’ TEAM GAME:

In the ‘A’ game, the 8th grade Junior Pups ran away from Salina Lakewood with the 32-point victory.

“I felt like we were ready to go,” noted Head Coach Tyler Brown. “With not much time from our first practice to our first game, I thought we looked solid but still need to improve in multiple areas.  I feel like several of our guys utilized their time wisely leading up to our season. With only 10 days to prepare, several were able to get together and play.”

Gabe Pyle had a big night as he led the team in scoring with 20 points while both Bishop Brown and Carter Allen each chipped in with 12.

Speaking of his players, Coach Brown continued his game reflections by saying, “Gabe (Pyle) led the way tonight with 20 points as he does a terrific job of leading and getting us into our stuff. Gabe is the type of player that makes those around him better. Bishop (Brown) and Carter (Allen) were terrific scoring 12 points each and handing out multiple assists to others along with snatching a good chunk of our rebounds. Ian (Razak) was a beast in the paint with multiple blocked shots tonight as he has such tremendous presents, I lost track of how many blocks he had. Brody (Seidl) is the voice of the team and he does all the things that do not necessarily fill the stat sheet but makes a huge impact on the game.”

Concluding his comments, Coach Brown added, “Overall, I feel like it was a great start to the season but we can’t get to comfortable because with McPherson across our chest we will be getting everyone’s best game!”

‘B’ TEAM GAME:

It was a struggle offensively for the ‘B’ team as they scored just 12 points in losing by 26.

Referencing the ‘B’ game, Coach Brown turned his reflections on the game to the new kids playing when he said, “This year we have several new guys trying basketball for the first time and we absolutely love it. Even though our play looked a little lost at times, we have some terrific pieces on this team and I look for these guys to improve with each time they step on the floor.”

Continuing his reflections, Brown added, “One of the main areas we need to improve on is being able to handle and pass the ball better. If we don’t have Brenden (Doile) on the floor, we looked pretty panicked out there. The tough thing about that is that Brenden plays most of his minutes on the ‘A’ team so a good portion of the game we are needing for someone to step up and be able to bring the ball up the floor and get us into our offense without turning the ball over.”

Discussing the players, Coach Brown pointed out, “I also feel Jaxson (Malvo) and Alex (Harms) will start to impose their will on teams. Both these guys have terrific size and a huge upside to their game and I am excited for the season they could eventually have. It will just come down to how much they really want it. I really like Logan (Peterson) and Kaven’s (Byrd) physicality that they bring to the table. These are two of the toughest I have seen. There are not too many that will be able to push these two guys around.”

Next up for the 8th grade Junior Pups will be a battle with Hays on Saturday.

MCPHERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL 8TH GRADE JUNIOR PUPS SCORING:

A TEAM:

Gabe Pyle – 20; Bishop Brown – 12; Carter Allen – 12; Ian Razak – 4; Brody Seidl – 2; Jaxson Malvo – 2.

B TEAM:

Jackson Malvo – 6; Brenden Doile – 4; Logan Peterson – 2.

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