FEB 18, 20 – LEAGUE CHAMPS
Giving a voice to the smaller area schools of McPherson County and the Athletes they have….Our goal is to give them all some media love!!
Today we cover the McPherson Middle School boys 7th and 8th grade boys basketball teams as they close out season with League Tournament. .
8th grade Junor Pups are LEAGUE CHAMPIONS, 7th grade Junior Pups finish 8-3.
8th GRADE JUNIOR PUPS
WIN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP,
FINISHE SEASON 11-1
By Staff
On Monday, the McPherson Middle School 8th grade boys closed out a stellar 2023 season with a 12-point, 45-33 win over Salina Lakewood to be crowned League Champions of the Wichita Suburban League, Division 2.
“The boys were ready to go from the opening tip tonight,” pointed out head coach Tyler Brown. “Our press and trapping were fantastic throughout the game. We went up 10 points quickly and kept it at that basically the remainder of the game.”
With the win the 8th grade Junior Pups close out the 2023 season at a stellar 11-1.
Coach Brown continued by saying, “This group of men were a fun group to coach. They work hard and are always wanting to be in the gym. That is a recipe for success! I also love how this team encourages each other but also challenged each other all season long. The only down part of the night was seeing Ashton Malm get taken out in the fourth quarter on a hard foul. You never want to see a player end his season getting hurt. He left at the end of the game to get his arm x-rayed.”
Individually, eight Junior Pups puts points in the scorebook of the championship game led by Ashton Malm with 12, Cru Buchman who scored 11 and Cole Cooper who also reached double digits with 10.
Others getting points by their name in the game include Dane Becker with five, while Carter Bengston, Matt Burger and Ben Bocox each scored two and Will Domingo had one.
Concluding his post-game and post-season reflections, coach Brown added, “It will be exciting to see what this team does in the Roundhouse over the next four years. This team finished the season 11-1 and was undefeated in league play. They also won the end of the season tournament as well. Lastly, I want to thank coach David Goerzen for all his time and effort with the team as well.”
(The Staff covering events for the MAC AREA SPORTS NEW can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)
8th GRADE JUNIOR PUPS
REACH LEAGUE FINALS
WITH WIN OVER HUTCHINSON
By Staff
On Saturday, the McPherson Middle School 8th grade boys picked up a big win in their first game of the Wichita Suburban League, Division 2 tournament as they took down Hutchinson by 13, 35-22.
The win gave the 8th grade Junior Pups a sparkling 10-1 record heading into the league championship game on Monday.
“This afternoon we picked up a huge win for our team,” explained head coach Tyler Brown. “We had to play Hutchinson for the second time in three days and this was also the third time we played them in the season. Needless to say, they know our stuff very well which makes it very difficult to call our stuff we want to run. To start the game off both teams seemed tight and struggled to put the ball in the basket.”
The Junior Pups trailed by two, 7-9, at the end of the first quarter before they locked down their defense and held Hutchinson to just one point in the second quarter while McPherson made one basket and a pair of free throws to take a one-point, 11-10 lead into the halftime break.
After the halftime break both teams seemed to find their offense and both Hutchinson and the Junior Pups scored in double digits with the Junior Salthawks putting the game into a 22-22 tie at the end of the third quarter. McPherson’s offense lit it up in the final quarter scoring 13 points while shutting out Hutchinson to gain the final 13-point victory.
Cole Cooper led the Junior Pups with 13 points while Ashton Malm chipped in with nine. Carter Bengston hit for five points, Matt Burger had four, Nolan Pearcy scored three and Jonas Emery rounded out the scoring with one.
Coach Brown concluded his post-game thoughts by saying, “These guys came up big when we needed it the most. We will play Salina Lakewood for the league championship on Monday.
(The Staff covering events for the MAC AREA SPORTS NEW can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)
7th GRADE JUNIOR PUPS
CLOSE SEASON AT 8-3
By Staff
On Saturday, the McPherson Middle School 7th grade boys played Hutchinson in their first game of the Wichita Suburban League, Division 2 – 7th grade and closed out their 2023 season with a 44-18 loss to Hutchinson.
With the loss the 7th grade Junior Pups finished the season with a record of 8-3.
“Another tough outing for our team,” noted head coach Jay Crawford. “We talked and worked toward getting a top seed in our tournament and we did. Being the second seed was an accomplishment, unfortunately due to injuries we were unable to finish the season in the way we wanted.”
Six 7th grade Junior Pups scored in the game with Carter Melton and Jensen Razak leading the way with four points each. Brody Milleson, Kaleb Postier, and Jaxon Hoover each chipped in with three while Drake Timson had on.
Coach Crawford concluded his post-game, post-season reflections by adding, “This group worked hard and gave great effort, Coach Stalnaker and I wish them the best and we hope we gave them some tools to move on to our 8th-grade program. I want to thank coach Stalnaker for his hard work with this group. He is a very bright and upcoming coach that has a bright future.”
(The Staff covering events for the MAC AREA SPORTS NEW can be reached by email at crossdovewriter@gmail.com)