The McPherson Middle School Basketball teams took on Salina Lakewood for the second time in less than two weeks on Thursday, as both 7th and 8th grade A-Team’s were able to move to 3-1 on the season, while the B-Team’s suffered narrow losses to move to 2-2.
The 8th Grade A-Team came out with a slim margin of victory defeating Lakewood 42-39. Head Coach Tyler Brown noted after the game, “Tonight we played Lakewood for a second time within just 11 days. That always makes for a tough matchup playing them that early again.” He said, “Our defense was tremendous in the first half holding them to just 7 points.” Lakewood found their rhythm in the 3rd quarter putting up 14 points on the Pups, but Brown said, “Ashton Malm was huge for us tonight.” He added, “Whenever the game got close he was always ready to answer Lakewood’s run to keep things going for us offensively.” Coach Brown also mentioned that Cole Cooper had a couple of timely three-pointers in the second half.
Brown said, “Even though Ashton and Cole had big nights for us I wouldn’t say we necessarily shot the ball as well as we can as a team.” He added, “We shot the ball lights out in practice yesterday.” He even joked with the guys in Wednesday’s practice, mentioning that they should save those shots for the game. Coach Brown concluded his postgame reflection by saying, “This game was much closer than I had hoped for but with Lakewood’s big 6’3″ center, he made it difficult for us to get easy buckets tonight. But we responded to adversity, and got another ‘W’.”
The A-Team will play Hutchinson at home for their next game on Monday.
Scoring Summary:
Ashton Malm 18
Cole Cooper 13
Carter Bengston 7
Matt Burger 4
The McPherson B-Team came up just short on Thursday, moving to 2-2 on the season after suffering a 30-26 loss. Coach David Goerzen noted, “ It was a close game and our kids played hard. Unfortunately, we made a few more mistakes than they did.” He said, “I love the fact that we can go deep into our bench and still maintain a solid team on the floor.” Goerzen concluded by saying, “We just need to fine tune a few things and we’ll have a chance to really compete every game.”
The B-Team will have a quick turnaround, and will compete in a tournament this weekend at Goddard Eisenhower.
Scoring Summary:
Nolan Pearcy 13
Bo Barkley 5
Will Domingo 4
Ben Bocox 2
Javonte Body 2
The McPherson 7th Graders would record the largest margin of victory on the night for the MMS Basketball teams, defeating Lakewood 44-30. Head Coach Jay Crawford said following the win, “We really had some good practices leading up to this game and to see that same effort put forth, really was nice to see as a coach.” The Pups came out and had a great start in the first quarter, getting out to a 17-3 lead. Crawford said, “Lakewood beat us by four the first game of the season, so that really got our attention on how much we needed to improve.” Coach Crawford concluded by saying, “We still have so much to improve on and if we keep this same effort, we will continue to improve.”
Scoring Summary:
Carter Melton 2
Gavin Heider 3
Tre Winburn 6
Kaleb Postier 6
Tripp Pelzel 8
Drake Timson 9
Jaxon Hoover 10
The B-Team fell 28-20, moving to 2-2 on the season. Crawford mentioned that they continue to play hard, and said, “They play hard through good plays and plays in which they make a mistake.” He added, “Each player gives it their all and that is great to see.” He concluded by applauding his team’s effort to attack the basket, saying, “Players are starting to figure out the offense, and are starting to see where the open shots will be.”
The B-Team will be in a one day tournament where they will play two games at Goddard Eisenhower on Saturday, where they are excited to be able to compete again.
Scoring Summary:
Isaac-Nelson 2
Colt Chapman 2
Cooper Bohme 3
Gavin Heider 6
Lawson Ediger 6
Logan Starks 1
