BY DAVID TOELLE
Tournament Correspondent
4A BOYS
SM MIEGE 94, LOUISBURG 40
Bishop Miege broke two all-class state records in a record-breaking 94-40 victory over Louisburg in the 4A championship. It’s the fourth 4A state title for Miege in the last six years, and the first since 2018.
The 94 points breaks the record of 92 scored by Blue Valley North (1997) and Wichita Heights (1977). The Stags’ 54-point victory beat a 40-point margin by Wichita Collegiate over Minneapolis (2010) and Wichita Heights over KC-Wyandotte (1977).
Miege’s Harrison Braudis (22 points), Taj Manning (18), Mark Mitchell (16) and Christian Bowen-Webb (14) scored in double figures. Miege shot 33 of 49 from the field.
Louisburg’s Julian Margrave scored 15 and Weston Guetterman had 10.
Harrison Braudis’ bucket with 6:32 left in the opening quarter gave Miege the 7-0 lead to open the game. After Louisburg’s Julian Margrave scored with 5:10 left, the Stags went on another 6-0 run to take a 16-2 lead with 3:20 left in the first on Xavier Hall’s bucket.
Margrave’s three-point play with 1:20 left cut the difference to 10 at 23-13, but a dunk by Mark Mitchell to end the first quarter game Miege a 27-13 advantage.
The Stags opened the second on an 8-0 run extending the lead to 35-13 with 6:23 left. Braudis gave Miege a 44-18 lead with 1:43 left, and a steal and bucket right before intermission gave the Stags a 48-23 lead at half time.
A 16-2 run by Miege (22-1) to open the third gave them a 64-25 lead with 4:21 left in the quarter. Tayt Harbour’s bucket with 1:09 left in the third gave Miege a 70-29 lead after three quarters.
Ben Guetteman made it 82-35 with 4:42 left in the fourth quarter and Andrew Hupp later got Louisburg within an 84-40 difference with 2:53 left, before Miege closed the game on a 10-0 run, the last five points coming on free throws with 36.6 left to close things out.
Margrave led Louisburg with 15 points, while Weston Guetteman had 10 as the Wildcats were 15 of 52 shooting for 28.8 percent, and just 5 of 22 from 3-point range for 22.7 percent, which included 1 of 11 shooting in the second half. The Wildcats were perfect on free throws, going 5 of 5 at the line. Margrave led the Wildcats with six rebounds, while Michael Seuferling had four.
Braudis led four players in double figures for Bishop Miege with 22 points, while Taj Manning had 18, Mark Mitchell had 16 and Christian Bowen-Webb had 14. After shooting 73.9 percent from the field in the first half (17 of 23), Miege finished 33 of 49 from the field for 67.3 percent. The Stags were 7 of 14 from 3-point range for 50 percent and 21 of 22 at the line for 95.5 percent.
Manning made it a double-double with 10 rebounds as Miege outrebounded Louisburg 33-20 in the game. Mitchell had five assists, while Hall and Braudis handed out four helpers each.
4A GIRLS SM MIEGE 51, MCPHERSON 36
Miege outscored McPherson 15-6 in the fourth quarter to pull away and claim a 51-36 victory the 2021 Kansas Class 4A State Championship on Saturday at the Tony’s Pizza Events Center. The victory gives the Stags a sixth Class 4A state championship since 2014 as the team made its 28th appearance in a state title game.
Gabriella Henderson-Artis scored 15 points and Louisville signee Payton Verhulst added 14 points. The Stags outscored McPherson 17-3 on free throws. McPherson’s Grace Pyle (16) and Kassidy Beam (10) scored in double figures for McPherson (21-4).
McPherson’s Grace Pyle buried a 3 to get the scoring started, but Miege scored the next five on a bucket by Gabriella Henderson-Artis and a three-point play by Emajin McCallop to take a 5-3 lead with 5:43 left in the first.
After McPherson tied it, McCallop hit 1 of 2 free throws to give the Stags the lead and Miege would hold the lead to the end of the quarter despite McPherson’s Cameron Pelzel scoring just before the buzzer to make it 12-11.
Henderson-Artis hit a 3 to put Miege up four, but Kassidy Beam answered right back for McPherson keeping the game within a point. Miege built a 21-16 lead with 5:34 left on McCallop’s bucket, but a triple by Pyle kept McPherson close. Another triple by Henderson-Artis put Miege up six, but Pyle hit a 3 with 45 seconds left before the half to make it a three point game at intermission 25-22.
Free throws by Pyle with 5:23 left in the third got McPherson back within two points at 28-26, but a 6-1 run by Miege thanks to a pair of Catherine Boling 3’s put the Stags up seven, 34-27 with 3:44 left in the third.
Miege would led 36-30 at three quarters time.
A 3 by Henderson-Artis and free throws by Payton Verhulst put Miege up 42-30 to open the fourth quarter.
Emma Malm’s bucket with 1:52 left got McPherson back within nine at 43-34, but six straight points by Miege, all at the free throw line, gave the Stags a 49-34 lead with 47 seconds left. McCallop’s free throws with 27 seconds left would seal the 51-36 win for Miege.
Pyle had 16 points to lead all scorers in the game for McPherson while Beam added 10. Peyton Howard had six points and eight rebounds before fouling out. McPherson was 14 of 43 shooting for 32.6 percent, and 5 of 18 from 3-point range for 27.8 percent, which included 1 of 8 shooting in the second half. Malm handed out four assists and Beam had three along with three steals.
Henderson-Artis led Miege with 14 while Verhulst had 14 as the Stags were 15 of 38 shooting for 39.5 percent in the game. Miege was also 17 of 25 at the free throw line for 68 percent. McCallop had eight points, three assists and five steals in the game for the Stags. Adrianna Smith pulled down 13 rebounds, helping Miege to a 31-22 rebounding advantage. She also had four assists.
Miege had a 15-4 advantage in points off turnovers and a 12-5 advantage in second chance points.
Miege finishes its season 23-1, while McPherson finishes with a 21-4 record.
Tournament Correspondent
SM MIEGE GIRLS 55, ANDALE 40
Bishop Miege put the Andale Indians away with a 24-2 first-half run Friday afternoon on the way to a 55-40 victory in the semifinals of the Class 4A girls' state tournament.
The Stags (21-1) turned a two-point lead into a 24-point advantage during an eight-minute stretch in the opening half at the Tony's Pizza Events Center as they qualified for a state-record 28th appearance in a state championship game.
Miege, whose only loss this season is to unbeaten Class 6A finalist Shawnee Mission Northwest, will play McPherson in Saturday's 6 p.m. championship game.
The Stags were led by 6-2 senior all-stater Payton Verhulst, who scored 23 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and added four steals. The University of Louisville signee hit 10 of 17 shots from the field.
Miege also got 10 points from junior Andrianna Smith and eight points and six steals from junior guard Emajin McCallop.
Andale, down by as many as 31 points in the third quarter, never quit in this one. The Indians went on runs of 8-0 in the third quarter and 11-0 in the fourth.
The Indians (18-6) were led by sisters McKenzie and Katelyn Fairchild. Both finished with 12 points. McKenzie, a sophomore, had a double-double with 10 rebounds and added four steals. Katelyn, the team's only senior, also had five rebounds and three steals.
BISHOP MIEGE 55, ANDALE 40
Andale 4 6 12 18 — 40
Miege 15 20 11 9 — 55
Andale (18-6) — K. Fairchild 5-15 1-2 12, Wegerer 1-4 2-2 4, Eck 1-2 0-0 2, Winter 1-2 0-0 3, M. Fairchild 5-14 2-3 12, Gorges 0-3 1-2 1, Schrandt 2-2 0-0 4, Baalmann 1-2 0-0 2, K. Kerschen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-45 6-9 40.
Miege (22-1) — Henderson-Artis 2-10 1-1 6, Burns 1-3 1-2 3, Verhulst 10-17 0-0 23, McCallop 4-12 0-0 8, Smith 4-5 2-5 10, Kurt 1-1 0-0 3, Boling 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 22-48 6-10 55.
3-point goals — Andale 2-9 (K. Fairchild 1-3, Wegerer 0-2, Winter 1-1, Gorges 0-2, K. Kerschen 0-1) Miege 5-20 (Henderson-Artis 1-6, Burns 0-2, Verhulst 3-8, McCallop 0-3, Kurt 1-1). Rebounds — Andale 22 (M. Fairchild 10) Miege 37 (Verhulst 10)
MCPHERSON GIRLS 58, LOUISBURG 46
Fueled by an unrelenting full-court press, McPherson scored the game's first 15 points and never trailed Friday night in rolling to a 58-46 victory over the Louisburg Wildcats in the Class 4A girls' semifinals.
The Bullpups (21-3) will face Bishop Miege (22-1) in Saturday's 6 p.m. championship game at the Tony's Pizza Events Center. The two teams have combined for 44 appearances in the state title game.
Louisburg (19-5) had all kinds of trouble handling McPherson's pressure. The Wildcats turned the ball over 12 times in the first eight minutes and attempted just six shots as they trailed 21-3.
The McPherson lead grew to 20 points (25-5) at the 6:30 mark of the second quarter, but Louisburg came roaring back, cutting the Bullpup lead to nine points (31-22) at halftime.
The Wildcats kept coming and got within five points twice (35-30 and 37-32) midway through the third quarter, but could get no closer. A 12-2 run by McPherson, fueled by senior guard Emma Malm, boosted the Bullpup lead to 15 points (49-34) with 6:18 remaining and Louisburg was never closer than 12 points after that.
Grace Pyle, a 5-10 senior, scored 13 of her team-high 21 points in the first quarter to lead the McPherson charge out of the gate and also had five steals. Malm, a 5-4 senior, added 14 points on 7 of 11 shooting and added four assists and three steals.
Louisburg, which was making its first-ever appearance in the state semifinals, was led by 5-11 senior Madilyn Melton who scored 21 points, grabbed seven rebounds and added four blocked shots.
The Wildcats shot 58 percent from the field (11 of 19) in the second half, but couldn't make up any ground on the Bullpups, who hit 63 percent (12 of 19).
McPHERSON 58, LOUISBURG 46
Louisburg 3 19 12 12 — 46
McPherson 21 10 12 15 — 58
Louisburg (19-5)—Kuhlman 0-3 0-0 0, Diederich 1-5 1-5 0-0 2, Moore 4-6 0-1 8, Melton 7-9 6-6 21, Foote 0-3 2-2 2, Ross 3-4 0-0 7, Mynsted 3-7 0-0 6. Totals 18-37 8-9 46.
McPherson (21-3)—Labertew 2-3 3-4 7, Beam 4-10 2-2 10, Howard 2-3 0-0 4, Pyle 6-16 6-9 21, Malm 7-11 0-0 14, Dukes 0-0 0-2 0, Alvord 0-0 0-1 0, Pelzel 1-1 0-0 2, Totals 22-44 11-18 58.
3-point goals—L 2-10 (Kuhlman 0-2, Diederich 0-3, Melton 1-1, Foote 0-3, Ross 1-1), M 3-8 (Beam 0-2, Pyle 3-6). Rebounds—L 22 (Moore, Melton 7), M 23 (Pyle 5). Total fouls—L 17, M 18. Fouled out—Foote.
SM MIEGE BOYS 78, MCPHERSON 51
Hot-shooting Bishop Miege broke away from McPherson with a 13-0 run late in the first quarter Thursday and never looked back as it rolled to a 78-51 victory in the Class 4A boys' state tournament at the Tony's Pizza Events Center.
Mark Mitchell, a smooth 6-foot-8 junior left hander, scored 24 points on 10 of 14 shooting as the Stags (21-1) advanced to Saturday's 2 p.m. championship game against Louisburg.
The Stags, who will be making their ninth trip to the state finals, shot a sizzling 70 percent from the field in the first half to build a 40-20 advantage at the break and never let McPherson (13-11) closer than 15 points in the second half.
Another 6-8 junior for the Stags - forward Taj Manning, scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while 6-2 senior Harrison Braudis had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. He also added seven assists and two steals.
The Stags led by as many as 28 points in the second half. They knocked down 10 of 18 shots behind the 3-point arc, 22 of 27 free throws and hit 62.2 per center overall from the field.
McPherson, with just three seniors on its roster, was led by 16 points from 5-9 senior Jayton Alexander and 14 points from 6-1 junior Seth Madron. The Bullpups were appearing in their state-record 37th semifinal.
LOUISBURG BOYS 58, AUGUSTA 55
The Louisburg Wildcats punched their ticket to the school's first-ever state championship game by outlasting Augusta, 58-55, in a classic semifinal game at the Class 4A boys' state tournament Thursday night.
The Wildcats (18-6), who will meet top-seeded Bishop Miege (21-1) in Saturday's 2 p.m. title game, survived a hot-shooting game by Augusta to avenge a two-point loss (42-40) to the Orioles on Jan. 23 at the Baldwin Invitational.
Augusta (17-6), which was looking for its ninth trip to the finals, shot 54.1 percent from the field and finished with three players in double figures and another with nine points. But, the Orioles couldn't overcome the 1-2 scoring punch of Julian Margave and Weston Guetterman.
Margrave, a 6-foot-9 junior, scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while connecting on 9 of 15 shots from the field.
Guetterman, a 6-1 senior, finished with 21 points, four assists and six steals.
Guetterman's sixth and final steal came with 2:10 remaining and the game tied at 46-46 when Margrave knocked a lob pass back toward mid-court where Guetterman raced to grab it. Guetterman then fed a breaking Margrave for a layup and eventual three-point play.
Louisburg never trailed after that, but Augusta was within two points twice in the final minute but could get no closer.
Kaden McDaniel, a sophomore, led Augusta with 14 points and six rebounds, while senior Ryan Andrews added 12 points and senior Xander Roberts scored 10. The Orioles held a 23-18 advantage on the boards, but Louisburg turned the ball over just four times.
