By Staff

            MCPHERSON – On Monday the McPherson Middle School eighth-grade boys swept a pair of home games from Hutchinson with the ‘A’ team pulling out a one-point win while the ‘B’ team earned a 14-point victory.

            Next up for the eight-grade Junior Pups will be a road test on Thursday at Salina South.

            For the ‘A’ team, they pushed their season mark to 4-1 by hitting a last second shot to gain a heart stopping, one-point, 40-39 win over Hutchinson before the home fans.

            “Tonight came down to the final seconds and we were able to pull out the win,” noted head coach Tyler Brown. “Ashton (Malm) and Carter (Bengtson) were our most consistent players this evening and again, when we needed a bucket, Ashton delivered it for us. If we needed a steal or a rebound, Carter delivered for us. I could probably go down the list and name what each guy does for the team, but those two guys stood out to me tonight. Most importantly, players are starting to learn their roles.”

            Leading the team in scoring was Ashton Malm with 17 while Carter Bengtson chipped in with eight.

            Coach Brown concluded his post-game reflections by adding, “As a team we have to finish at the rim so much better. I think we opened up the game in the first quarter with multiple missed layups and that kind of stuff can not happen. We also have to do a better job of not letting a guy out of a trap or getting our foot on the sideline or baseline when we are trapping. I do not even want to watch the film and see how many times we let Hutchinson blow by our trap on the sideline or baseline. If we can correct those two things and we start to make teams work longer and harder on defense, we might be able to lose our nickname of ‘The Cardiac Kids’. We have yet to win a game by double digits.”

‘A’ Team won 40-39 over Hutchinson.

‘A’ Team Scoring: Ashton Malm – 17; Carter Bengtson – 8; Cole Cooper – 5; Jonas Emery – 4; Cru Buchman – 4; Dane Becker – 2.

            With their 14-point, 30-16 victory, the eight-grade ‘B’ team Junior Pups now sit at 3-4 for the season.

            Nolan Pearcy led the team in scoring with 11.

            “The team finally got back on track with a win tonight,” explained ‘B’ team coach David Goerzen. “It was hit and miss for a while until the second half when the guys were able to get a comfortable lead. I liked seeing our guys step it up today and show what they can do when they are playing well. Of course, we still have some work to do but things are coming around. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going.”

(The Staff covering McPherson County Activities can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)