GIRLS FINAL
SALINA SOUTH 42
MCPHERSON 23
The Lady Cougars were not pleased with their performance in the season opener against Liberal, and with less than 24 hours to recover, they wasted no time getting off to a better start against McPherson on Friday.
Having the tallest player on the court on their side, South made every effort to get senior Paityn Fritz involved in the offense early. At 6’2, Fritz towered over the tallest McPherson defenders but still dealt with hard contact inside. Her trips to the free throw line were more than earned.
Once Fritz was established, South’s shooters found space. An ultra aggressive Brylee Moss made two early three-pointers leading to some separation for South on the scoreboard.
After Moss cooled off, Fritz began dealing with foul trouble and was forced to sit for an extended stretch of the second quarter and eventually most of the second half when her fourth foul was assigned.
Even with their leading scorer saddled with foul trouble, the Lady Cougars led 20-11 at the half.
With South searching for scoring, senior guard Brooklyn Jordan stepped up. A buzz filled the gym when Jordan touched the ball beyond the arc, as she caught fire in the third quarter.
Jordan splashed five threes in the second half and wound up with 17 points in a stellar effort. Most of her points came with reserves on the court, who also stepped up in a huge way. Lauren Crow, Izzy Maxton and Sophie Daily were all forced into action and played with great effort defensively to help preserve lead built by Brooklyn Jordan’s hot shooting.
Now at 1-1, South awaits its first league contest of the season against the Campus Colts on Saturday at 4.
BOYS FINAL
SALINA SOUTH 58
MCPHERSON 43
The Cougars welcomed the challenge of facing the back-to-back defending 4A state champs, McPherson Bullpups on Friday night. What ensued was a fast paced, action packed ballgame that saw both sides establish an offensive rhythm early.
South and McPherson traded buckets for most of the first quarter, spearheaded by Sawyer Walker’s early shooting spree. Walker saw his first three-pointer drop and kept firing, scoring 11 first half points.
McPherson’s leading scorer, Jett Pyle, went step for step with Walker, finishing with 12 first half points. At halftime, South led 31-26.
South began pulling away once they got Jett Pyle in foul trouble. With McPherson’s leading scorer on the bench, South built its lead and began a truly balanced offensive attack which last the entire second half. Pyle eventually fouled out when Jaxon Myers took a charge on him with around 5:30 left to play, the biggest defensive play of the game for South.
McPherson’s response to trailing, was to begin pressing full court. Aside from a couple turnovers, the Cougars began getting layups once the press was broken. Easton Wilcox and Kobie Henley took full advantage of multiple transition opportunities late in the third quarter.
Entering the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead, Kobie Henley stayed hot and Gavin Devoe joined him. Devoe had not been heard from much, but used his size to create multiple second chance opportunities for South, some for his teammates and the rest for himself.
Henley stole the show late, finishing with a game-high 17 points, but the Cougars balanced attack featured Wilcox with nine, Devoe with nine, Webb with six and Walker with 13.
Senior point guard Jaxon Myers did not have a big night offensively, but affected the game in every other way with his passing and defensive intensity, taking charges and making things difficult for McPherson’s guards.
Winning comfortably against a championship-winning Bullpups squad was the early-season statement South wanted to make during a busy opening weekend. An early league matchup with Campus awaits on Saturday at 5:30.
