McPherson boys look to win third straight Class 4A-I title after edging Andover Central (+video)
Even before the reporters assembled outside the McPherson locker room following the Bullpups’ 73-68 Class 4A-I semifinal win over Andover Central on Friday night, there was an expectation among the Bullpups that freshman Jake Alexander would be making his media debut after scoring 15 points.
“He’s telling us in the locker room that he was scared to come out here after having a really good game for us,” senior Drew Pyle said. “Because, reporters.”
“We told him he needed to be nervous,” McPherson coach Kurt Kinnamon added. “That’s the first time for him (doing interviews). He’s probably 14 years old.”
The Bullpups offered him advice, specifically telling him he needed to give them credit. Kinnamon didn’t think that was necessary.
“Well, a lot of what happened was Jake taking the ball to the basket and making a play,” Kinnamon said.
McPherson (23-1) will play Bishop Miege (21-3) in the 4A-I title game at 6:15 Saturday night. McPherson has won the last two 4A-I titles, while Miege finished third in 2015.
I thought our guys played really hard. I was disappointed for them. McPherson’s a great team. When two good teams play like that, the game’s going to come down to who makes a couple more plays.
Andover Central coach Jesse Herrmann
With McPherson trailing Andover Central 30-23 in the second quarter, Alexander hit a three-pointer. He gave the Bullpups their first lead at 33-31 when he scored in the final minute of the period.
In the final minute of the third quarter, Alexander had two of McPherson’s three three-point plays for the 54-44 lead. Then he hit a three-pointer 36 seconds into the fourth period.
He made 5 of 8 shots, 2 of 3 from three-point range.
“He’s really athletic,” said Pyle, who had a game-high 20 points, hitting 7 of 12 shots and 3 of 4 threes. “He makes plays for us on the defensive end, and he can shoot it really well. We look for him in the corner. He knocks down the open shots.”
The third quarter’s finish, which was part of McPherson’s 21-8 run, especially devastated Andover Central. The Jaguars had led 16-8 in the first period and took a 34-33 lead into halftime after an Eyan Curtis three.
“I’m not saying that’s where the game was decided because we had a chance at the end,” said Andover Central coach Jesse Herrmann, whose team is 19-5 and will play Paola (21-3) at 2 p.m. for third place. “The end of the third quarter was where they spread it out for sure. It put us in a bad spot.”
Andover Central threatened in the fourth when junior Cole Taylor made a jumper and freshman Easton Leedom hit one of his three three-pointers to start an 8-1 run that Jordan Birch capped with a three-point play.
Taylor, who made 5 of 8 three-pointers, hit two within a minute to get Andover Central within 61-60 with 3:35 to go. Senior Darraja Parnell scored with 1:53 remaining to cut McPherson’s’ lead to 64-62.
Parnell and Taylor both finished with 19 points, and Parnell had a game-high nine rebounds.
But Andover Central had three turnovers in the final 1:23, including a double dribble, losing the ball in the lane and then turning it over on the pass after getting a steal.”
“We made mistakes down the stretch,” Parnell said. “… We can’t make mistakes when we’re playing to go to the state championship game. We made mistakes and we couldn’t come back from those mistakes.”
Pyle and his brother, Ben, scored 12 of the Bullpups’ final 14 points. Ben Pyle and Spenser Wine finished with 13 points apiece.
Andover Central shot 23 of 43 from the field and 13 of 22 from three-point range. McPherson shot 23 of 44 and 6 of 13.
“I thought our guys played really hard,” Herrmann said. “I was disappointed for them. McPherson’s a great team. When two good teams play like that, the game’s going to come down to who makes a couple more plays.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2016 at 11:01 PM with the headline "McPherson boys look to win third straight Class 4A-I title after edging Andover Central (+video)."