4A-I boys: McPherson blasts Andover Central to reach final

The first 12 minutes of Friday’s Class 4A-I basketball semifinal created virtual certainty about what would happen after the final 20.

McPherson’s season would continue, and it will after its 61-51 win over Andover Central at the Tony’s Pizza Events Center. Central spent 20 minutes with the knowledge that its season was effectively over.

Central will play for third place on Saturday after failing to corral McPherson’s blazing start. The Bullpups led 33-11 after those 12 minutes, eliminating drama and the second-guessing that goes along with a closer game.

“They made a whole bunch early, and we got kind of slapped in the face,” Central coach Jesse Herrmann said. “To give up 26 (points) in the first quarter, you’re probably out of the game. Especially at this time, when you’re playing a good defensive team like they are.”

McPherson’s defense was the least of Central’s concerns during the first quarter and the opening minutes of the second. Ben Pyle, McPherson’s 6-foot-7 junior, created an impossible matchup for Central’s lineup with no player within five inches of him.

Pyle started Friday’s game by shooting over Central’s mismatched guards, making 3 of 4 three-pointers in the first quarter. He didn’t make a three after the first quarter, instead dissecting the defense with drives to the basket.

Those proved to be doubly useful for Pyle, who scored many of his 27 points from the paint. If he didn’t score, someone else was usually open after the defense collapsed on him. Pyle had four of McPherson’s nine assists.

“He’s a bad matchup for a lot of teams, especially them with no starter over 6-2,” McPherson coach Kurt Kinnamon said. “Ben’s always played on the perimeter his whole life. We’ve gotten him to go inside a little bit more. … He does what we need him to do, and he’s done a really good job of buying in.”

McPherson made 10 of 14 shots in the first quarter, including four three-pointers, and led 26-9. The lead was stretched to 22 points before McPherson seemed to relax, seemingly realizing a chance for Kinnamon’s seventh state championship awaited.

Herrmann realized it, too, at least in hindsight. The Jaguars never trimmed the lead to single-digits, getting it down to 10 on a late three-pointer. The chances Central had to make it relatively close were felled by long stretches of no production – too long, at least, in a lopsided game.

“Our kids battled,” Herrmann said. “We played some young guys a little bit. I thought we might (let up), and really we didn’t. We had moments where I thought we were going to, but for the most part I thought we battled. From there (after the first quarter), we played pretty well, and really we didn’t play that bad early.”

Central reached the top four of 4A-I despite a six-win regular season. The return of senior guard Cole Taylor from injury sparked the Jaguars to a sub-state title and a quarterfinal win over Kansas City Piper.

Instead of feeling as if the postseason run was a bonus to an otherwise disappointing season, Herrmann wonders what might have been.

“We were in a lot of games we didn’t finish,” Herrmann said. “We felt going into this game like we could win this game. They came out and blitzed us early.”

This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 8:29 PM with the headline "4A-I boys: McPherson blasts Andover Central to reach final."