The Buhler High School boys basketball team placed fourth at the Salina Invitational Tournament and the Crusader girls finished fifth.
The Crusader boys lost to Salina Central 57-54 in the third-place boys game Thursday at Kansas Wesleyan University’s Muir Gymnasium. The Buhler girls defeated Great Bend 48-33 in the girls fifth-place game Thursday at the Salina South gymnasium.
The Buhler boys posted a 1-2 record at the Salina Invitational and now have a 8-6 record. The Buhler boys trailed the Salina Central Mustang boys 29-24 at halftime. Buhler’s Luke Holmberg and Jacob Miller were named to the Salina Invitational Boys All-Tournament Team.
Holmberg led the Buhler boys in scoring with 17 points, grabbed rebounds and blocked 1 shot. Jacob Miller scored 11 points, grabbed 2 rebounds, dished off 4 assists and had 3 steals.
Asher Zachary scored 8 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, handed out 3 assists and had 3 steals. Brycen McCurdy scored 8 points, grabbed 1 rebounds and had 1 steal. Isaiah Heredia scored 4 points, grabbed 2 rebounds, dished off 5 assists and had 5 steals.
Nick Chance, Landon Martinez and Jared Miller each scored 2 points. Gabe Edmond did not score but grabbed 5 rebounds.
The Crusader boys defeated Abilene 63-47 in the first round and lost to Great Bend 58-49 in the first round.
The Buhler girls and Great Bend were tied 13-13 after one quarter. The Buhler girls (7-7) went on a 12-5 run the second quarter to take a 25-18 lead at halftime. The Crusaders led 42-28 after three quarters. Buhler outscored Great Bend 6-5 in the fourth quarter.
Tori Tustian scored 9 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, dished off 2 assists, had 1 steal and blocked 1 shot. Kaia Edmond scored 7 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, had 2 assist, had 1 steal and blocked 1 shot. Edmund was named the tournament’s Most Inspirational Player.
Ella Voss scored 7 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, dished off 7 assist, had 1 steal and 2 blocked shots.
Addy Keller scored 6 points, grabbed 3 rebounds and had 1 steal. Jenna Lackey scored 6 points, grabbed 2 rebounds, dished off 3 assists, had 2 steals and blocked 1 shot. Kinley Combs scored 5 points, grabbed 4 rebounds, dished off 3 assists, had 2 steals and blocked 2 shots.
Harlie Terrell scored 4 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, handed out 1 assist and had 3 steals. Maddie Stallman scored 4 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, handed out 1 assist and had 3 steals. Kenzie Polk did not score, but had 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 block.
The Crusader girls lost to Salina Central 56-24 in their first tournament game and defeated Junction City 46-39 in their second game.
The Buhler girls and boys host Hesston on Friday. The Crusaders play at El Dorado on Feb. 3 and at Mulvane on Feb. 6.
In the other girls finals at Salina, Wichita East defeated Wamego 69-46, Salina Central defeated Salina South 63-50 in the third-place game and Abilene defeated Junction City 70-47 in the seventh-place game.
The Wichita East Blue Aces (the No. 5-ranked team In Kansas Class 6A girls) play at Little River (the No. 1 team in Class 1A Division) at 6 p.m. on Friday. Wichita East is the largest high school in the state of Kansas with 2,481 students. Little River has 92 students.
In the other boys finals at the Salina Tournament, Salina South defeated Great Bend 63-39 in the championship game, Wamego won 2-0 forfeit against DeSoto in the fifth-place game and Wichita South defeated Abilene 55-39 in the seventh-place game.
