By John Mesh
The Hutchinson Salthawk boys basketball team lost to the Blue Valley West Jaguars 53-42 in the first round of the 61st annual McPherson Invitational Tournament Thursday at the McPherson Roundhouse.
Hutchinson (4-3) will play Wichita East at 3 p.m. in the consolation round. Blue Valley West (5-5) will play St. James Academy at 6:10 p.m. in the semifinals.
The No. 7-seeded Jaguars led 13-0 after the first quarter, 23-16 at halftime and 40-25 at the end of the third quarter.
The No. 2-seeded Salthawks made a 13-2 run at the Jaguars in the fourth quarter, cutting their deficit to 42-38. Blue Valley West outscored the Salthawks 11-4 in the final 4 minutes.
Taishaun Govain led the Salthawks with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Lamar Govain added 10 points, including two 3-pointers.
Terrell King had 7 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Danny Boone had 6 points and 3 rebounds. Jalen Crable and Levi Kepler each scored 2 points.
Kepler and Lamar Govain each grabbed 4 rebounds and Boone 3.
Brandon Kirk led the Jaguars with 13 points. Cade Wysong and Aiden Adams scored 8 points apiece and Max Orr 7. Brady Brungardt contributed 4 points and 7 rebounds.
The Blue Valley West squad features Jaxon Nagy. He is the son of Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. Nagy missed his only shot of the game.
The Jaguars outrebounded the Salthawks 43-31.
In the matinee game of the first round, Lenexa-St. James Academy defeated Wichita East 68-44. St. James led 33-20 at halftime and outscored Wichita East 35-24 in the second half.
Emmitt Peters led the St. James Thunder with 17 points and Nate Hornback added 14 points and 12 rebounds.
Luke Henderson led the Wichita East Blue Aces with 17 points and 6 rebounds.
In another first-round game Thursday, the Shawnee Mission East Lancers defeated the Free State Firebirds from Lawrence 48-47.
Will Beck led the Lancers with 13 points. Stephen Hlobik added 11 points and 7 rebounds. Walt Jones scored 10 and Carter Brock 8.
Bennett Negal led the Firebirds with 14 points. Ethan Prescott added 9 points. Braden Wilmes grabbed 10 rebounds.
Shawnee Mission East will play the host McPherson Bullpups in the 7:45 p.m. semifinal game Friday. McPherson defeated Manhattan 78-53 in a first-round game Thursday.
Four Bullpups scored in double figures, led by Jett Pyle with 16 points. Cade Strathman scored 15, Gabe Pyle 15 and Bishop Brown 12. Ian Kazak added 9 points and 9 rebounds. Ashton Malm scored 6 points.
Landon Knopp scored 18 points for Manhattan. The Indians will play Free State in the 4:35 p.m. consolation game on Friday.
The finals will be played Saturday starting with the seventh-place game at 11 a.m., followed by the fifth-place game at 12:35 p.m., the third-place game at 2:10 p.m. and the championship game at 3:45 p.m.
Buhler girls advance to SIT semifinals, Crusader boys fall to Salina Central
The No. 1-seeded Buhler girls defeated No. 8 Abilene 67-44 in the first round of the Salina Invitational Tournament. The game was played at the Salina South gymnasium.
The Buhler Crusader girls trailed 11-10 at the end of the first quarter., but led at halftime 31-21. Buhler outscored Abilene 24-6 in the third quarter for a 55-37 lead.
The Buhler girls will play Salina South in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday at Kansas Wesleyan University. Salina South defeated Great Bend 42-12 in the first round.
The No. 5-seeded Buhler Crusader boys (3-6) lost to No. 4 Salina Central 55-51 Thursday night at the Salina Central gymnasium.
The Crusaders led the Mustangs 14-13 at the end of the first quarter and 24-23 at halftime. Salina Central outscored Buhler 19-6 in the third quarter to take a 42-30 lead.
The Crusaders outscored the Mustangs 21-13 in the fourth quarter to cut into the final margin.
Buhler will play Wichita South in a consolation semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Salina Central gymnasium.
In other boys games at the Salina Invitational, Salina South defeated Abilene 72-59, Great Bend defeated Wichita South 72-41 and Andover defeated Wamego 73-33.
In other girls games at the Salina Invitational, Wamego defeated Salina Central 38-34 and Andover defeated Junction City 81-16.
Nickerson boys, girls fall at St. John Mid-Winter Classic
The Nickerson High School boys basketball team lost to Larned 37-33 in a consolation round Thursday afternoon at the St. John Mid-Winter Classic.
The Panther girls will play Cimarron-Inman loser in the seventh-place game at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
The Nickerson girls basketball team fell 67-13 to Larned in a consolation round game Thursday afternoon at the St. John Mid-Winter Classic.
The Panther girls will play either Macksville or Cimarron in the seventh-place girls game at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Halstead boys fall to Liberal at Adolph Rupp tourney
The Class 3A Halstead boys lost a close contest to the Class 6A Liberal boys 67-61 in a consolation game Thursday night at the Adolph Rupp Tournament in Halstead.
Halstead led 15-9 after one quarter and 35-25 at halftime. Liberal outscored the Dragons 24-12 in the third quarter to take a 49-47 lead.
Liberal outscored 18-14 in the fourth quarter.
Fairfield boys roll past Chase
The Fairfield High School boys basketball team defeated Chase 68-22 Thursday night at the Fairfield gymnasium.
Hutchinson wrestlers compete at AVCTL II duals
The Hutchinson High School boys and girls wrestling teams hosted the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League II duals Thursday at the Salthawk Activity Center.
The Hutchinson boys defeated Haysville Campus 69-9, Salina South 60-18 and Maize South 43-32. The Salthawks lost to Valley Center 41-34, Derby 49-24 and Maize 55-27.
The Hutchinson girls wrestling team defeated Maize South 42-24 and Maize 48-18. Hutchinson lost 51-24 to Campus, Salina South 60-24 and Derby 58-12.
Hutchinson competes at the Garden City Invitational Jan. 31-Feb. 1.
Buhler High School boys, girls bowlers host Salina schools
The Buhler High School varsity and junior varsity boys and girls bowling teams hosted Salina South, Salina South and Salina Sacred Heart Thursday at The Alley in Hutchinson.
The Crusader teams will host Andover Central Tuesday at The Alley in Hutchinson.
Varsity Boys
Buhler: 2167
Salina South: 2151
Salina Central: 1986
Sacred Heart: 1779
High Game: Julian Morrison – 223
High Series: Malachi Willis – 552
Varsity Girls
Salina South: 2176
Buhler: 1733
Salina Central: 1479
High Game: Aubrey Ewing – 166
High Series: Aubrey Ewing – 451
JV Boys
Salina South – 2004
Salina Central – 1767
Buhler – 1754
Sacred Heart – 1463
High Game: Dominic Gaede – 201
High Series: Dominic Gaede – 509
JV Girls
Buhler: 1412
Salina South: 1166
High Game: Brynn Treaster – 140
High Series: Brynn Treaster – 372
Today’s Series:
Varsity Boys
Malachi Willis: 192, 149, 211 = 552
Julian Morrison: 223, 140, 170 = 533
Rylan Klug: 148, 179, 196 = 523
Logan Brown: 155, 174, 173 = 502
Trevor Trustian: 175, 147, 138 = 460
Carson White: 133, 170, 132 = 435
Varsity Girls
Aubrey Ewing: 154, 131, 166 = 451
Macy Miller: 148, 156, 122 = 426
Cheyann Geesling: 126, 144, 153 = 423
Eva Goertz: 149, 128, 128 = 405
Brayla Johnson: 115, 132, 146 = 393
Madalyn Bohringer: 124, 117, 103 = 344
JV Boys
Dominic Gaede: 201, 140, 168 = 509
Kadin Glass: 143, 100, 175 = 418
Gavin Bowers: 124, 138, 124 = 386
Collin Schwartzkopf: 109, 107, 154 = 370
Keenen Johnson: 129, 128, 103 = 360
Blake Mourn: 100, 130, 93 = 323
JV Girls
Brynn Treaster: 126, 106, 140 = 372
Baylee Krase: 122, 99, 136 = 357
Lelani Strodtman: 97, 125, 104 = 326
Juliette Shank: 74, 109, 126 = 309
Cora Nuttmann: 78, 112, 115 = 305
Keelee Bryant: 98, 93, 71 = 262
Area players, coaches selected for Eight-Man II West All-Star Team
Hutchinson Central Christian and Fairfield will be well-represented on the Eight-Man II West squad in the Kansas Eight-Man Football Association All-Star Game.
Central Christian’s Keaton Miller and Ry Kooiman and Fairfield’s Connor Fowler were named to Eight-Man II West squad.
Central Christian’s Matt Barnett and Fairfield’s Kyle Finder will be assistant coaches for the West II quad. Bucklin’s Trever Powell will be the head coach.
Little River will have three representatives on the Eight-Man I East squad: Kyler Bergkamp, Logan Reinken and Ruston Birdson.
The 40th annual Kansas Eight-Man All-Star Games will be played at Trojan Field in Beloit on a Saturday in June.
The West prevailed in both contests in 2024, winning the Division I game 50-42 and the Division Ii game 28-14.