Thursday Boys Basketball Tournament Catch-All

Boys tournament action is heating up, with just a couple of days left before Saturday’s medal games.  Catch your team’s performance in the Thursday Boys Basketball Tournament Catch-All.

McPherson Invitational

Wichita Heights cruised to the semifinals after a 78-59 win over Lawrence Free State in the Mini-Roundhouse.  The Falcons needed a big fourth quarter to create a little breathing room.  Evan Wessel had a double-double for Heights with 22 points and 10 rebounds.  Of Wessel’s 22 points, 2 came off an off the backboard pass for an alley-oop from Dreamius Smith.  Perry Ellis had 21 points for the Falcons.  Georgi Funtarov had a 18-point night for the Firebirds.

Maize will be the next challenge for Heights after the Eagles beat Shawnee Mission East 59-49.  Derek Lee was the game’s high scorer with 24 points for Maize in the victory.  Ryan McCarthy helped out with a 17-point night for the Eagles.

Jack Pyle and Christian Ulsaker shared the load as the host McPherson Bullpups had no problem with Blue Valley West, winning 50-34.  Pyle and Ulsaker had 19 points each to move the home team on in the winners bracket.

Manhattan pulled out a 40-39 thriller over Hutchinson to advance to a semifinal game against McPherson.  Led by Connor Brooks and Brandon Payne, the Indians outscored the Salthawks 12-11 in the final quarter to get the edge in the nail-bitter.

Valley Center Tournament

Topeka Seaman barely beat the Garden City Buffaloes Thursday 62-60. Both teams came out of the gate shooting lights-out. The score after the first quarter was 23-22 in favor of the Buffaloes. It was almost just as close at halftime 36-34 still in favor of Garden City. However, Seaman took the lead after three quarters 50-49 and held on for the final quarter to come away with the win. Seaman’s Adam Gill led all players with 19 points; Connor McDaniel added 16 in the victory. Jake Curran and Braden Taylor both scored 16 points to lead Garden City. The Buffaloes will play KC Turner in the second round. Turner lost to KC Schlagle 65-38 in the first round.

KC Shlagle beat KC Turner 65-38. Schlagle was in control from the start as it jumped out to an 18-6 lead after the first quarter and held a 37-15 lead at halftime. Schlagle cruised the rest of the way for the win. Eric Daugherty led all scorers with 16 points for Turner. No other teammate scored more than five points. Rozell Nunn led Schlagle with 12 points. Laray Young and Derrick Green scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. Schlagle will play Topeka Seaman. Seaman beat Garden City 62-60 in the first round.

Blue Valley Northwest simply handled Junction City 76-41. The Blue Jays of Junction City couldn’t recover from a 20-9 first quarter deficit. The Huskies held all but one player to single-digit points. George Bugarinovic led all players with 17 points for Northwest. Brett Fisher added 14 in the win. Junction City’s Terry Bell led his team with 14.

Wichita Southeast wasted no time in taking down the Valley Center Hornets as it opened the game on a 13-3 run. The Golden Buffaloes went on to win 73-42. Southeast more than doubled up Valley Center for the halftime lead 26-12. Gavin Thurman led all players with 26 points and teammate Hayden Harris added 19 for the win. Dylan Mccullough led Valley Center with 16 points. Southeast will play Blue Valley Northwest in the second round. Valley Center will play Junction City in the second round. Junction City lost to Blue Valley Northwest 76-41 in the first round.

All second-round games are Friday, Jan. 21 in Valley Center.

El Dorado Tournament

Led by Bubba Starling, the Gardner-Edgerton Blazers took down the Great Bend Panthers 61-52. Great Bend was in the lead after one quarter at 12-11, but couldn’t keep up with the Blazers, as it was outscored in every other quarter. Starling led all players with 24 points. No other Blazer had more than seven points. Cameron Casey and Greg Hildebrand led their team with 12 points apiece. The Blazers will play Collegiate in the second round.

Wichita Collegiate took a 32-22 lead into halftime over Campus. However, it wasn’t as easy as the Spartans were expecting. The Colts held a two-point lead after one quarter. It had to use a 20-point second quarter to build that lead. After a rough first half, Collegiate cruised for the rest of the game to win 63-47. Collegiate’s Trace Clark led all scorers with 16 points; Riley Kemmer added 14 and Markus Phox scored 11. Campus will face Great Bend in the second round.

Although no player scored in double-digits, El Dorado lost by just one point to the Wichita Trinity Knights 45-44. Trinity held a two-point lead at halftime after leading after the first quarter 13-8. The game’s leading scorer was Trinity’s John Dohm with 16 points. Austin Kessinger made every one of his 12 points count in the win. Alex Brown led El Dorado with nine points. El Dorado’s loss sets up the rivalry matchup between Circle and El Dorado in the second round.

Kapaun took down Circle 44-36 Thursday. Although Circle was never completely out of it, Kapaun never looked back after a 20-19 lead. No player scored in double-digits. Circle’s Jordan Phillips led all players with nine points. Keaton Lewis for Kapaun led his team with eight points. Kapaun will play Wichita Trinity.

All games will be held Friday, Jan. 21 in El Dorado.

Tournament of Champions (Dodge City)

Patrick Parker exploded for 20 points in narrow 64-60 Wichita South win over Buhler to advance to the semifinals.  The Titans were trailing going into the fourth quarter when South pulled together to outscore the Crusaders by 10 points to get the win.  Diallo Wesley had 14 points for the Titans and Chris Johnson was good for 12.  J.P Lohrentz led Buhler with 16 points and Brandon Givens added 14.

Dodge City will face South in the semifinals after locking horns with Newton in a 51-24 win for the Red Demons.  Dodge spread the scoring around with Brandon Howarth taking the honor of the game’s high scorer with 9 points.  Trey Hallman helped the Demons out with 8 points in a well rounded effort.  Newton was led by Kyle Preston who scored 8 points for the Railers.

Derby got past Ulysses to make it to the semifinals with a 59-47 win over the Tigers.  Kyler Steadman paced the Panthers with 18 points on the night and was 4-for-6 from behind the arc.  Jabril Richardson had 11 points for Derby.  Cameron Cornelius was one point away from a double-double with 9 points and 11 rebounds.  Kyle Zerr had a solid game for Ulysses with 12 points and Garrett Kissell tallied 11.

Scott City will get Derby in the Semifinals after the Beavers held off the Wichita West Pioneers with a 72-62 win.  Ron Baker had a double-double for Scott City with 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Tyler Hess chipped in 13 points for the Beavers.  Jay Bradley had a solid night for West with 17 points and Chris Banks helped the Pioneers with 15 points.

Salina Invitational Tournament

Barring a tough second quarter, Salina South handled Concordia Thursday 51-44. The Cougars of South took an early 13-7 lead, but couldn’t hold on going into halftime and trailed the Panthers 22-20. South would recover in the third and score 18 points on its way to the win. South’s Cody Neuberger scored 15 points to lead all players. Devin Smith of South and Grant Holmes of Concordia both finished with 13 points apiece. South will play Smoky Valley for the SIT Championship Saturday.

Smoky Valley beat Andover 49-42. Andover will face Concordia for third place Friday.

Salina Central took down Clay Center 51-28 to advance to play Abilene for fifth place Saturday.

Abilene beat Salina Sacred Heart in the Consolation Semifinals 62-52. Sacred Heart will play Clay Center for seventh place on Friday.

Chaparral Tournament

Mulvane took down Kingman 45-43 to advance to the second round where it will play Conway Springs.

Conway Springs beat Arkansas City 54-44 Thursday evening. Arkansas City will face Kingman, who lost to Mulvane.

Wellington and Clearwater will face off in the second round, as will Chaparral and Belle Plaine.

All games are scheduled for Friday, Jan. 21 in Chaparral.

Sterling Invitational

The Pool Play round is now over in Sterling.  After Sterling beat Ellsworth 61-46, Remington beat Independent 74-59, and Beloit took Hutchinson Trinity 41-36, the pool records are set.  

Sterling and Remington are both 2-0 in Pool A with wins over Independent and Ellsworth.  In Pool B, Beloit is 2-0, Hutch Trinity is 1-1, and Bluestem is 0-2.

Canton-Galva Tournament

Douglass is one win away from a championship in the Canton-Galva Tournament after getting a solid team effort to dispatch Southeast of Saline 72-58 in the semifinals.  Jared Holthaus led the way for the Bulldogs with 23 points, but had plenty of help from his teammates.  Ronnie Sobanek chipped in 17 points, Jason Piha added 16, and Payton Fraley had 10.  

Topeka Invitational

Topeka got the best of Wichita Northwest in a tight 58-51 win for the Trojans to advance to the semifinals.  Kansas City Washington will square off with Topeka for a spot in the championship game after the Wildcats shellacked Topeka West 71-33.

Olathe South took down Topeka Highland Park to advance to the second round where it will meet Wichita East. Highland Park will play Lawrence, who lost to East in the first round.