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

MCPHERSON – For the first half the unbeaten Buhler boys appeared like they may dominate the McPherson boys when they hit the halftime break up by 15 only to see the Bullpups come back with a flurry of offense in the second half to fall just short as the Crusaders held on for a one-point, 50-49 win on Tuesday.

It was a heartbreaking ending for the Bullpups on their home court, not only because of the one-point loss, but because they have not allowed a Buhler victory for 32 straight games dating back to the late 1990’s.

After having just a three-point, 15-12 advantage at the end of the first quarter, the Crusaders held the Bullpups to just three points in the second quarter and took a commanding 15-point, 30-15 lead into the halftime break.

The McPherson offense was able to rekindle the fire in the second half, connecting on 47% of their shots in the final 16 minutes of play after only finding the basket 20% of the time in the first two quarters.

The Bullpups took what was at one point an 18-point lead by the Crusaders and whittled down to just seven at 39-32 by the end of the third quarter.

After Buhler pushed the lead back up to as much as 13 early in the final quarter of play, McPherson came back with a flurry before running out of time and taking the final one-point loss.

Even with the strong second half, the Bullpups finished the game shooting a single notch below 40% for the game while the Crusaders hit at a pace of 58%.

The Bullpups did hold a slight advantage in the paint with 29 rebounds to 23 for Buhler.

As for the team itself, the Bullpups were led by Seth Madron who put a game high 24 points in the scorebook and nearly got a double double with a game leading nine rebounds. Kreighton Kanitz also reached double digits scoring with 10 while Sam Becker had a solid game with six points and six rebounds.

While the varsity had a struggle with the Crusaders, the Junior Varsity Bullpups scored a 29-point, 61-32 win with Gabe Pyle and Kyden Thompson leading the way with 17 and 11 points each.

The Bullpup freshman team also ran away with a win, 54-29 as Hayden Hoxie had the hot hand on offense with 22 points while Jaxon Malvo chipped in with 12 and Brenden Doile reached double digits with 11.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR “AREA TEAM”?

Like the Lady Bullpups, the Bullpup boys will now enter the holiday break at 3-3 for the season. They get a two week plus break before returning to game action on Friday, January 7 with a road trip to Winfield.

Buhler at MCPHERSON BULLPUPS

SCORING:        1          2          3          4          FINAL

Buhler             15        15        9          11        50       

BULLPUPS        12        3          17        17        49       

TEAM STATS:              Buhler             BULLPUPS

Shooting                     18/31 (58%)    20/51 (39%)

3-Pointers                   4/11 (36%)      2/13 (15%)

Free Throws                10/19 (52%)    7/14 (50%)

Rebounds (Off/Def)    23 (2/21)         29 (13/16)

Assists                         11                    8

Turnovers                   14                    13

Steals                          5                      8

Blocked Shots             0                      2

Personal Fouls            14                    19

MCPHERSON BULLPUPS INDIVIDUAL SCORING & STAT LEADERS:

Scoring (49 Total Points): Seth Madron – 24; Kreighton Kanitz – 10; Sam Becker – 6; Owen Pyle – 5; Cory Muehler – 3; Mason Miller – 1.

Three-Pointers Made (2): Owen Pyle, Cory Muehler – 1.

Rebound Leaders: Seth Madron – 9; Sam Becker – 6; Kreighton Kanitz – 5; Cory Muehler, Mason Miller, Dawson Feil – 2.

Assist Leader: Seth Madron – 4; Cory Muehler – 3.

Leader in Steals: Kreighton Kanitz – 3; Seth Madron, Cory Muehler – 2.

Leader in Blocked Shots: Kreighton Kanitz, Braeden Ediger – 1.