McPherson moves into final

As it became apparent McPherson’s high-level fourth-quarter performance would produce a comeback victory over Maize on Friday, McPherson coach Kurt Kinnamon turned to the players on his bench.

“That’s the way you play,” Kinnamon said. “That’s the way you play.”

The Bullpups spent most of the McPherson Invitational semifinals trying to overcome scorching hot shooting from Maize – particularly guard Grant Bugbee. Bugbee made six of Maize’s 15 three-pointers and the Eagles shot 59 percent in the first three quarters.

But McPherson flipped the momentum with a full-court press early in the fourth, and was nearly flawless down the stretch in a 79-73 victory.

Ben Pyle scored 24 points, Mason Alexander added 23 and Jake Alexander 20 for McPherson (8-4), which will play Manhattan in the 7 p.m. championship game on Saturday. Manhattan defeated Blue Valley West 46-35 in the other semifinal.

McPherson overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half to reach the title game for the third consecutive year. The Bullpups made 15 of 17 free throws in the fourth quarter and 24 of 29 for the game.

After Jake Alexander scored off a Maize turnover and Pyle hit two free throws with 4:25 remaining, McPherson led 66-64 and didn’t surrender the advantage the rest of the way.

A high-intensity homestretch led to an exchange of words and pushing between players and coaches from both teams in the postgame handshake line. The teams quickly separated and went to their locker rooms.

“There was a lot of frustration from them, letting a lead slip like that,” Pyle said. “The intensity and emotion got us going on defense. We forced a lot of turnovers.”

Maize (7-4), which will play Blue Valley West for third place, rode the hot shooting of Bugbee to a 48-37 lead early in the third quarter. Bugbee finished with 31 points, including 20 in the first half on 8-of-9 shooting.

But from the 6:04 mark of the third, when he scored on a cutting layup to give Maize a 45-35 lead, to the game’s final minute, Bugbee went scoreless.

Other Maize players contributed to the shooting barrage, though. Caleb Grill made four threes and scored 14 points, John Short had three threes and 11 points, and Dalyn Johnson scored 10 with two threes.

“I’ve never seen a shooting performance like that, ever,” Kinnamon said. “Bugbee plays for my brother’s summer team, and I’d seen him play, so I knew he was a good shooter.

“But holy cow. It’s not like they weren’t guarded shots.”

But McPherson, which trailed 62-54 with 7:40 remaining, forced three turnovers with its press in a 12-2 run to take the lead.

Pyle scored six points during the pivotal run, which raised the noise level in McPherson’s gym.

“That’s what so fun about playing in the Roundhouse, because there’s nothing like that,” Kinnamon said. “You can’t find a venue that loud outside of Allen Fieldhouse or Koch Arena or whatever.”

Maize finished at 57 percent shooting (26 of 46) and was 15 of 25 from three-point range.

“We kind of had them right where we wanted them,” Maize coach Chris Grill said. “We got in the bonus early, but we just weren’t able to capitalize on that.”

Heights 81, Hutchinson 52 – Tyrell Andrews scored 21 points and Devin Davis added 20 as Heights bounced back from a quarterfinal loss to Blue Valley West to earn a spot in the fifth-place game.

Braxton Kirkendoll also reached double figures with 16 points for Heights (8-3), the tournament’s No. 2 seed. The Falcons forced 24 turnovers – 11 in the first quarter – and outrebounded Hutchinson 39-22.

Heights, which will play Shawnee Mission East for fifth, extended a seven-point halftime lead to 63-42 after three quarters by outscoring the Salthawks 23-9. The Falcons shot 51 percent (32 of 63) and made six three-pointers, four by Davis.

Kolby Holmberg led Hutchinson (2-8) with 17 points.

This story was originally published January 20, 2017 at 11:01 PM with the headline "McPherson moves into final."