HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Non-Conference
At McPherson
The Roundhouse
Tuesday
BOYS
No. 1 McPherson 75,
Great Bend 43
GREAT BEND (3-3)
Jace Bowman 4 0-0 9, Greg Hildebrand 2 2-2 6, Cameron Casey 4 1-2 12, Jeff Pike 1 0-1 2, Will Gray 1 0-0 2, Dakota Ellis 0 0-0 0, Ethan Henderson 0 0-0 0, Roderick Frise 3 0-0 6, Wyatt Bayless 1 0-0 2, Connor Sell 0 0-0 0, Travis Hafner 0 0-0 0, Matt Marshall 1 2-2 4. Totals 17 5-7 43.
McPHERSON (6-0)
Marcus Houghton 0 3-4 3, Luke Reber 0 0-0 0, Kevin Spencer 1 0-0 2, Cory Horton 2 0-2 4, Jordan Hart 3 1-1 7, Jack Pyle 9-1-4 19, Parker Hambley 1 1-2 3, Travell Robinson 3 0-0 6, Keaton Sorenson 0 2-2 2, Cody Cape 0 0-0 0, Christian Ulsaker 11 6-6 29. Totals 30 14-21 75.
Great Bend 11 12 12 8 — 43
McPherson 21 19 18 17 — 75
Three-point goals —Great Bend 4 (Casey 3, Bowman); McPheson 1 (Ulsaker 1). Fouled out — Hart.
McPHERSON — The inside-outside combination featuring 6-foot-6 post player Christian Ulsaker and point guard Jack Pyle makes Class 5A top-ranked McPherson a tough matchup.
But it’s the little things, according to Great Bend head coach Chris Battin, that makes the Bullpups go.
Ulsaker scored a game-high 29 points and Pyle scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half on Tuesday night, as McPherson used a potent half-court trap press to romp past Great Bend 75-43 at The Roundhouse.
The trap press helped the Bulldogs mount a 15-0 lead in the game’s first five minutes. As a result, the Panthers never recovered.
“They’re well-coached and they do all of the little things,” Battin said. “That was the difference tonight.
“They did all of the little things. They got on the floor for loose balls and they rebounded. They did a great job, and we didn’t have an answer for them.”
Guard Cameron Casey hit a trio of 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 12 points for Great Bend, which had its overall record drop to 3-3. Jace Bowman added nine points for the Panthers.
“They scored pretty well for us,” Battin said of Casey and Bowman, “but the bottom line is that you have to take care of the basketball.”
McPherson practically swallowed the Panthers with its half-court press at the ouset.
“The worst part it wasn’t even their full-court pressure,” Battin said. “It was their half-court trap that they just killed us with.
“We’ve got to take better care of the basketball, and we’re going to have to find a way to do that and it’s going to be something we have to take into full consideration this week as we get better.”
McPherson, which led 21-11 after one quarter, extended its lead to 40-23 at halftime. It was 58-35 after three quarters.
