McPHERSON, Kan. – McPherson Middle School’s 7th and 8th Grade Girls Basketball A Teams each finished the 2025 season 14-0, winning Patriot League titles.
The 8th Grade A team won by an average of 39.6 points per game. In the 14 games played, they scored 714 total points (51.0/game) and gave up only 145 (10.4/game). This came one season after finishing unbeaten as 7th-Graders, making their combined middle school record 28-0. Their middle school careers ended with a 39-6 win over Circle to win the Patriot League North title.
The Head Coach of the 8th Grade Girls team, Matt Sandbo, credited the team’s success to their high skill sets and high basketball IQ’s. “[They are] athletic and relentless defenders and a tremendous shooting team that really shares the ball often, and more often than not makes the right play,” Sandbo said.
The 7th-Grade A team showed a level of dominance as well under head coach Jay Crawford. They outscored their opponents 788-122 in total this season, averaging 56.3 per game and allowing only 8.7. That’s an average winning margin of 47.6 points per game. The team finished 14-0, winning the Patriot League Tournament.
“I am very proud of how we played,” Crawford said. “Winning this championship will always be special to me because of how the young ladies played. We wanted to win the league, and we did.”
The Head Coach of the McPherson High School Girls Basketball program, Clint Kinnamon, expressed his praise to the middle school teams. “Both the 7th and 8th grade teams have some skilled, athletic, talented, and unselfish kids who love the game of basketball,” Kinnamon said. “We had numerous open gyms this past summer, and the core of them were there most of the time. To become great, you have to put in the work when the bright lights are not on, and this group of young ladies are ones who have and will continue to grow and develop because of their love for the game. The other thing about them is that they are great kids.”
Kinnamon also shared praise for the coaching staffs. “We are fortunate that they have had good coaching along the way,” Kinnamon said. “There are knowledgeable parents who have taken them since they were young and did a good job with fundamentals, and most importantly, helping them fall in love with basketball. Having two good middle school coaching staff is critical to the success of a school program. Head coaches Matt Sandbo and Jay Crawford, along with Ally Lusk and Taylor Davis as assistants, do a great job. Their work is much appreciated by the high school coaches.”
