By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com

SHAWNEE MISSION – Despite taking a huge early game lead, the McPherson girls could not keep up with Class 6A ranked Blue Valley on the road Saturday and suffered a 15-point, 60-45 loss.

The young Lady Bullpups played as good basketball can get in the first quarter and spurted out to a surprising 10-point, 14-4 lead at the end of the first quarter before Blue Valley seemed to find the fire in their offense and went on an 11-0 run at the end of the second quarter to take back the lead by three, 25-22, going into the break.

In the third quarter, Blue Valley had two offensive runs at the beginning and ending of the period that totaled an 18-2 advantage in points as they outscored the Lady Bullpups 20-7 and take a 16-point lead into the final eight minutes of play.

Despite the loss, Lady Bullpup head coach Chris Strathman found time to praise his team during a post-game radio interview, saying, ‘I was super proud of our kids today as we put these big games on the schedule to try and get better, and today I felt like we definitely got better.’

The Lady Bullpups had no answer for the Lady Tigers star sophomore Jadyn Wooten who scored 24 points of which 17 came in the second half. Wooten, Sophie Deveney, and Eden Bax combined for 54 of the teams 60 points.

As for McPherson, Lauren Labertew was the lone Lady Bullpup to reach double digits with 16 points. Karter Alvord just missed double figures with nine as the Bullpups struggled from the field, hitting just 38% though they did connect on 10-of-13 from the free throw line thanks to Labertew who hit all six of her charity shots.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR the LADY BULLPUPS?

Now sitting at just 2-3 for the season, the Lady Bullpups will close out their pre-holiday break schedule on Tuesday with a home game as they battle Buhler in the Roundhouse.

MCPHERSON LADY BULLPUPS at VISITING TEAM at HOME TEAM (CAPITALIZE AREA TEAM)

SCORING:                    1          2          3          4          FINAL

LADY BULLPUPS          14        8          7          16        45

Blue Valley                  4          21        20        15        60       

TEAM STATS:              LADY BULLPUPS          Blue Valley

Shooting                     15/39 (38%)                21/45 (47%)

3-Pointers                   5                                  8

Free Throws                10/13 (79%)                10/10 (100%)

Rebounds (Off/Def)    N/A                             N/A

Assists                         N/A                             N/A

Turnovers                   N/A                             N/A

Steals                          N/A                             N/A

Blocked Shots             N/A                             N/A

Personal Fouls            N/A                             N/A

MCPHERSON LADY BULLPUPS INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (45 Total Points): Lauren Labertew – 16; Karter Alvord – 9; Madi Moors – 6; Ella Schmid – 4; Peyton Howard – 4; Chloe Clevenger – 4; Alexis Dukes – 2.

Three-Pointers Made (5): Lauren Labertew – 2; Ella Schmid, Karter Alvord, Madi Moors – 1.

Rebound Leaders: No Stats Available.

Assist Leader: No Stats Available.

Leader in Steals: No Stats Available.

Leader in Blocked Shots: No Stats Available.