By John Mesh
The Hutchinson High School boys basketball team fell to Wichita East 61-58 in the consolation round in the 61st annual McPherson Invitational Tournament Friday at the McPherson Roundhouse.
Hutchinson (4-4) will play Manhattan (3-7) in the seventh-place game at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Wichita East (6-4) will play for fifth place against Lawrence Free State at 12:35 p.m.
Lenexa-St. James Academy will play Shawnee Mission East at 2:10 p.m. for third place.
Blue Valley West will play McPherson in the 3:45 p.m. championship game.
The Salthawks led 16-8 at the end of the first quarter and led 28-20 before the Blue Aces scored the final 5 points of the first half. Hutchinson led at halftime 28-25.
Wichita East outscored the Salthawks 19-13 in the third quarter to take a 44-41 lead. Both team scored 17 points in a back-and-forth fourth quarter.
Wichita East’s Ismael Berry hit the game-deciding 3-pointer to make the final score 61-58 Blue Aces.He fired in six 3-pointers and led all scorers with 24 points. Luke Henderson scored 15 points and Jaylen Phillips-Gray had 10 points and 6 rebounds.
Sophomore Lamar Govain got his first start as a Salthawk. He led Hutchinson with 15 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and grabbed 8 rebounds. Terrell King scored 14 points and had 4 assists.
Levi Kepler had 9 points and 11 rebounds. Taishaun Govain had 7 points and 7 rebounds. Danny Boone had 6 points and 3 steals.
Lucas Witt scored 3 points, Jalen Crable 2 and Tramel Walker 2.
The Lawrence Free State Firebirds were led in scoring by Korbin Dowdell with 13 points. He also pulled down 7 rebounds. Braden Wilmes scored 11 points, AJ Eason 9 and Bennett Negal 8.
Manhattan was led by Landon Knopp and Will Carpenter with 8 points apiece. Sawyer Newton and Vince Doering each scored 6 points.
Free State led 26-16 at halftime and 43-25 after three periods. Manhattan outscored the Firebirds 15-9 in the fourth quarter.
Brandon Kirk led the Blue Valley West Jaguars with 17 points, including 6-of-6 free throws. Tyler Peterson scored 8 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Cade Wysong had 8 points and 7 rebounds.
Luke Goodale and Max Orr each had 6 points for the Jaguars.
Emmitt Peters led the St. James Thunder with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Evan Dejmal contributed 9 points.
McPherson needed two overtimes to defeat Shawnee Mission East 66-64 in the last semifinal game of the night Friday at the McPherson Roundhouse.
Gabe Pyle led the Bullpups with 23 points. Jett Pyle scored 145 and Cade Strathman 12. Bishop Brown tallied 8. Ian Razak grabbed 9 rebounds.
Stephen Hlobik led the Lancers with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Will Beck scored 14 points and Walt Jones 11. Logan Verschelden and Quentin Ochs each scored 9 points.
The Lancers outrebounded the Bullpups 40-30. McPherson made 20-of-35 free throws. The score was tied 13 times and there were eight lead changes.
Buhler girls will play for SIT championship
The Buhler High School girls basketball team will play for the championship of the Salina Invitational Tournament Saturday.
The Crusader girls defeated Salina South 54-50 in the SIT semifinals Friday night. In the other semifinal, Andover defeated Wamego 51-35.
The teams were tied 13-13 at the end of the first quarter, 25-25 at halftime and 35-35 after three quarters. Buhler outscored the Cougars 19-15 in the fourth quarter.
The third-place girls game featuring Salina South and Wamego will be played at 11 a.m. at Kansas Wesleyan University, followed by the championship girls game between Buhler and Andover at 1 p.m.
In consolation round girls scores from the SIT Friday, Salina Central defeated Junction City 66-12 and Abilene defeated Great Bend 47-40.
On Saturday, Great Bend will play Junction City for seventh place at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Salina Central gymnasium and Salina Central will play Abilene for fifth place at 1 p.m.
Buhler boys fall to Wichita South in SIT consolation round
The Buhler High School boys basketball team lost to Wichita South 65-44 in the consolation round of the Salina Invitational Tournament.
The Buhler Crusaders led the Wichita South Titans 13-9 at the end of the first quarter and trailed at halftime 28-21. The Titans outscored the Crusaders 17-10 in the third quarter to extend their lead to 45-31.
Wichita South outscored Buhler 20-13 in the fourth quarter for the 65-44 final score.
The Buhler boys (3-7) will play Wamego for seventh place at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Salina Central gymnasium, followed by the Wichita South Titans vs. Abilene in the fifth-place boys game at 2:30 p.m.
Abilene defeated Wamego 76-32 in the other consolation round game Friday.
In the semifinals, Great Bend defeated Salina Central 54-49 and Andover defeated Salina South 77-25. Great Bend junior Ian Premer passed the 1,000-point mark.
Salina Central will play Salina South in the third-place boys game at 11:30 a.m. at the Salina Central gym, followed by the Great Bend vs. Andover championship boys game at 2:30 p.m. at Kansas Wesleyan.
Haven boys to play Cheney for Rupp tourney championship
The Haven High School boys basketball team defeated Winfield 81-47 Friday night at the Adolph Rupp Tournament in Halstead, and will play Cheney at 7:45 p.m. Saturday in the championship game.
Nash Wray led the Haven Wildcats with 25 points. Dalton Bontrager scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Brogan Wray scored 10 points. Gatlin Rinehart contributed 7, Detrick Nisly 6 and Blake Richey 6.
Christian Moree led Winfield with 18 points. Evan Hutto and Carter Hoyt each scored 12.
Cheney defeated Andale 53-43 in the other semifinal game Friday night. Josh Burdick led Cheney with 19 points and pulled down 6 rebounds.
Andale’s Jack Horsch scored 17 points. Teammates Harris Potucek and Bo Kaiser grabbed 7 and 6 rebounds.
In the consolation games Thursday, Liberal defeated Halstead 67-61 and Garden Plain defeated Rose Hill 51-41.
Halstead will play Rose Hill in the seventh-pace game at 2 p.m., followed by Liberal vs. Garden Plain in the 3:45 p.m. fifth-place game and Winfield vs. Andale in the 6 p.m. third-place game.
In first round games Monday and Tuesday, Haven defeated Liberal 66-31, Winfield defeated Halstead 70-63, Cheney defeated Rose Hill 68-18 and Andale defeated Garden Plain 50-45.
Trinity boys, girls place 7th, 8th at Sterling Invitational
The Hutchinson Trinity Catholic boys basketball team placed seventh and the Celtic girls eighth at the Sterling Invitational Friday.
The Trinity boys (2-9) defeated Kingman 70-36 for seventh place and the Trinity girls (1-10) lost to Lyons 46-36 in the seventh-place girls game.
In the other boys finals on Friday, Scott City played Sterling for first place, Lyons defeated Hugoton 63-62 for third place and Southeast of Saline defeated Smoky Valley 48-32 for fifth place.
In the other girls finals Friday, Scott City defeated Southeast of Saline 46-43 in the championship game, Hugoton defeated Kingman 45-42 for third place and Smoky Valley defeated Sterling 33-27 for fifth place.
The Celtic boys and girls lost their consolation bracket games Thursday afternoon. The Trinity boys lost to Southeast of Saline 69-48 and the Celtic girls lost to Smoky Valley 55-27.
Aaron Gust led the Celtics with 17 points and Max Ryan scored 12. Owen Bailey led Southeast of Saline with 22 points. Gannon Jacobson scored 19, Tiernan Ptacek 11 and Isaiah Kejr 8.
Alex Suter-Tan scored 18 of the Trinity girls’ 29 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and had 3 steals, Smoky Valley’s Katja Blanchat led the Vikings with 26 points. Elsie Boughfman contributed 15 points and 4 steals.
Reno County Sabres boys 1st, girls 2nd at Reno County Shootout
The Reno County Sabres Homeschool boys basketball team captured the championship at the Reno County Shootout Friday, and the Sabres girls team placed second.
The tournament was hosted by Fairfield High School in Langdon.
The Sabres girls squad lost to the Wichita Central Christian Academy Lions 43-34 in the girls championship game.
The score from the boys championship game was not available at press time.
The Fairfield girls basketball team captured third place with a 37-34 thriller victory over Sedgwick.
The Fairfield boys played tough before falling to Sedgwick 46-41 in the third-place boys game and placing fourth in the Reno County Shootout.
The Pretty Prairie girls basketball team defeated Chase 58-29.
No. 5 Inman girls to play No. 1 Little River in St. John Mid-Winter Classic title game
The Inman High School girls basketball team defeated Central Plains 38-30 Friday night in the semifinals of the St. John Mid-Winter Classic.
No. 5 Inman will play Kansas Class 1A Division I No. 1-ranked Little River in the girls championship game at 6 p.m. Saturday.
The Inman boys basketball team lost to Cimarron 62-48 in the consolation bracket.
The Teutons will play Nickerson at 10 a.m. Saturday in the seventh-place boys game.
Moundridge boys beat Holcomb in Hillsboro Classic semifinals
The Moundridge High School boys basketball tam, ranked No. 1 Kansas Class 2A and play in the Heart of America League along with Hutchinson Trinity Catholic, defeated Holcomb 46-45 Friday in the semifinals of the Hillsboro Classic.
Moundridge got 11 points each from Bear Moddlemog, Henry Hecox and Heath Churchill.
Kaden Hardy led Holcomb with 11 points and Keegan Johnson scored 10.
Halstead boys wrestlers 7th, girls 8th at Nickerson Invitational
The Halstead High School boys wrestling team placed seventh and the girls eighth Friday at the Nickerson Invitational.
There were 13 teams on the boys side and 15 teams on the girls side.
Halstead’s Clayton Considine and Connor Herman placed first and Reggie McCloud placed second for the Dragon boys.
Considine picked up his 100th career victory. He is now No. 1 in all-time wins in Halstead wrestling history, passing Dustin Foster, who was in attendance at the Nickerson gymnasium to hand Considine his banner.
Kahlyn Davis placed second, Ava Armstrong third and Parker Metoyer fourth on the girls side.
Halstead boys results
132 Clayton Considine 5-0 1st
138 Reggie McCloud 4-1 2nd
157 Quintin Thieme 0-4
285 Connor Herman 5-0 1st
Halstead girls results
125 Parker Metoyer 2-3 4th
130 Kahlyn Davis 4-1 2nd
140 Alexis Westfall 0-5
145 Addi Thompson 1-3
170 Ava Armstrong 2-1 3rd
Friends football team signs Halstead duo; HutchCC signs athletes from Buhler, Hays, Halstead, Columbus
Connor Herman, Halstead High School senior Connor Herman has signed a letter of intent to play football at Friends University in Wichita, where he will continue both his academic and football career.
Herman, 6-foot-3, 273 pounds, also wrestles for Halstead. He made numerous All-State and All-League honors and was selected to play in the Kansas Shrine Bowl football game this summer.
Herman will be joined on the Friends Falcons football team by Halstead teammate Joey Millspaugh.
Buhler High School senior Brayden Henry signed to play baseball at Hutchinson Community College.
Henry is a right-handed pitcher, catcher and third baseman for the Crusaders.
Buhler baseball coach John Neill, had this to say on the Fieldlevel.com website about Henry’s recruitment to Hutchinson Community College: “So proud of Brayden as he moves on to the next level. Looking forward to seeing progress as he joins a top-notch juco program.”
Hays High School’s Riley Dreher signed to play softball at HutchCC. She plays second base, third base and shortstop.
Dreher will be teammates at HutchCC with Halstead High School’s Kaci Young, who pitches and plays shortstop; and Columbus High School’s Hailey Ediger, a pitcher/first baseman. Young and Ediger signed with HutchCC.