Big second half propels Bullpups into semifinals

After three straight games that barely emitted a yawn, there finally was a close game in the finale Thursday in the Mid America Classic.

For a half, that is.

McPherson High shook loose late in the first half to take a 23-16 lead over Dodge City, then scored the first 10 points of the second half as an impetus to a 53-35 success.

The 8-3 Bullpups get their much-anticipated rematch with undefeated Andale at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the semifinals. The teams met last week in Andale with the Bullpups unable to hold a 10-point second-half lead before subsequently losing 45-43 in overtime.

The Bullpups spent most of the first half knocking off the rust of a nine-day layoff, leading only 18-16 before scoring five quick points going into the break.

"What hurt us more than anything with that layoff was we never did have a full squad at practice," MHS coach Chris Strathman said. "We've been battling some illness and tonight we had all 11 varsity kids for the first time since at Andale last week. So that was tough."

While the MHS offense was sporadic, the solid defense was a constant as Dodge City really struggled to put points on the board.

"Dodge City was a good, quality team," Strathman said. "We broke down on some assignments and they got where we shouldn't have let them. But overall I thought we did a good job defensively on their team tonight."

Freshman Mandi Cooks, who didn't have to have her quarters monitored since she also plays JV during the regular season, provided the Bullpups a spark off the bench as she scored 12 points. Ashtyn Schieferecke also scored 12 points.

Now is the rematch with Andale, which didn't break a sweat in a rout of Wichita Southeast.

There could be somewhat of a difference from the first meeting in that an injury has taken away inside presence Kylee Ebert and it will be a quicker team Andale puts on the floor and one that won't quite enjoy the rebounding advantage it did in the first meeting.

"What that does is make them play faster," Strathman said. "What that means is they'll put four guards on the floor and will look to push it… transition defense will be a key tomorrow night."

MHS (53) — Schmidt 0-1, 0-0, 0; Wedel 1-4, 0-0, 2; Yowell 3-6, 0-0, 8; Hoffman 0-1, 0-0, 0; Collins 0-0, 2-2, 2; Schieferecke 4-9, 4-5, 12; Ulsaker 2-6, 2-2, 6; Robertson 3-7, 0-0, 9; M. Cooks 5-8, 2-2, 12; B. Cooks 1-3, 0-0, 2. Totals — 19-45, 10-11, 53. 3-pointers — Robertson 3, Yowell 2.

Dodge City (35) — B. Bradshaw 4-8, 2-5, 10; T. Bradshaw 2-5, 1-2, 5; Maple 1-3, 0-0, 2; Harshberger 3-8, 0-0, 6; Shelor 1-4, 0-0, 2; Nelson 3-7, 1-2, 7; Mota 1-1, 0-0, 3. Totals — 15-36, 4-9, 35. 3-pointers — Mota 1.

Andale routs Southeast, stays perfect

It was another walk in the park for the higher-seeded team in the third game of the Mid America Classic on Thursday.

Undefeated Andale made it three blowouts in as many games with a 66-30 squashing of Wichita Southeast.

The 10-0 Indians blazed to leads of 18-7 after a quarter and 37-10 at halftime, sinking 14 of 29 floor shots.

"It was hard to get a rhythm going, but we stayed aggressive and got some easy baskets," Andale coach Mark Kerschen said. "We were ready to play, but were a little rusty."

Four-year starting point guard Brittany Meyer set the tone with 13 first-half points and went on to finish with 15. Also in double figures were Lauren Rowland, Rachel Friedrichs and Kadey Dreiling, all with 10.

Meyer has been one of the tourney's best players for four years and seems to light up when she steps into the Roundhouse.

"It's McPherson. It's the basketball capital of Kansas isn't it?" Kerschen said, noting that she plays hard all the time, but especially here.

Southeast couldn’t handle Andale’s defensive pressure, turning it over 13 times in the first half and finished with 20. Alex Arline led the Buffs with eight points.

Andale (66) — Reichenberger 2-3, 0-0, 4; Easter 1-1, 0-0, 2; Meyer 5-10, 3-3, 15; Dreiling 4-5, 2-3, 10; Maxwell 0-2, 1-2 1; Rowland 3-9, 4-6, 10; Chavez 0-1, 0-0, 0; Leep 2-6, 0-1, 4; Bergkamp 2-6, 0-2, 4; Friedrichs 4-7, 2-2, 10; Venjohn 2-6, 1-2, 6. Totals — 25-56, 13-21, 66. 3-pointers — Meyer 2, Venjohn 1.

Southeast (30) — Sader 0-2, 0-0, 0; Joseph 3-7, 0-0, 6; McCoy 2-6, 2-4, 6; Arline 3-17, 2-2, 8; Christor 0-5, 1-2, 1; Jennings 1-4, 0-2, 2; Rentas 0-3, 1-2, 1; Williams 2-9, 0-0, 6. Totals — 11-53, 6-12, 30. 3-pointers — Williams 2.

Manhattan cruises by Valley Center in Game 2 of Classic

The rematch is now set.

Manhattan did its part Thursday in the second game of the Mid America Classic to earn a semifinal game on Friday against first-game winner Olathe South.

The two ranked Class 6A heavyweights met last year in the third-place game of the Class 6A State Tournament, with South taking a 56-53 decision.

Manhattan advanced to Friday’s evening session by virtue of its 57-37 triumph over Valley Center. Both the Indians and Olathe South take 9-2 records into the 6 p.m. semi.

“They’re so much different, last year (All-Stater Kylee) Kopatich was the dominant player. Now they’re so evenly balanced,” Manhattan coach Scott Mall said. “For years we never saw them and now we’ve played them three times in the last three years. They’re a very good team, very balanced. They get scoring from a lot of different people.”

Manhattan grabbed command early, jumping out to a 17-7 lead and moved it to 28-15 by half as Valley Center struggled from the field throughout the night.

The Indians had nice balance, as 11 of their 12 players scored and none were in double figures. Amara Ehie led the way with nine points. Valley’s Bethany Reeves took game honors with 12.

“We were a little more inconsistent than we’d like,” Mall said. “Offensively we had a lot of turnovers (22) and we let them drive to the basket a little too much. But we had some good spurts and good contributions from some people off the bench.”

Manhattan (57)  — McAtee 4-6, 0-0, 8; Ehie 2-3, 5-7, 9; Bammes 1-3, 0-0, 2; Fiser 1-2, 0-1, 3; Mittie 2-3, 3-4, 8; Roberts 2-5, 1-2, 5; Thaemert 1-2, 0-0, 2; Henry 0-0, 2-2, 2; Wilson 3-7, 0-0, 6; Ballard 3-11, 0-0, 7; Hilgers 0-1, 0-0, 0; James 2-2, 1-2, 5. Totals — 21-46, 12-18, 57. 3-pointers — Fiser 1, Mittie 1, Ballard 1.

Valley Center (37) — Boese 1-2, 0-0, 2; Weavers 3-9, 2-2, 8; Richter 0-1, 0-0, 0; Reeves 4-17, 3-4, 12; Petrakis 0-2, 0-0, 0 Lawrence 0-2, 0-0, 0; Webber 2-10, 1-2, 7; Latimer 3-7, 2-6, 8. Totals — 13-50, 8-14, 37. 3-pointers — Webber 2, Reeves 1.