All McPherson High boys basketball coach Kurt Kinnamon needs to know about Kansas City Washington is that it defeated Highland Park in Friday’s sub-state finals.
That alone makes the Wildcats an uber-dangerous opponent in Wednesday’s opening round of the Class 5A State Tournament at Topeka’s Expocentre.
MHS takes a 21-1 record into the 6:30 p.m. matchup, while Washington is a modest-and-misleading 13-9.
If the Bullpups win, they would play the late game -- 8:15 p.m. -- on Friday against the winner of Andover Central and Topeka West.
In this age of electronic wizardry, Kinnamon has been able to gather enough information on the Wildcats to know that his team will have to be at the top of its game, since Washington outlasted Highland Park 70-66 Friday night. The Scots have been one of the dominant programs in Class 5A for the past decade, but will be watching from the stands this year.
The information Kinnamon has gathered is rather glossy to say the least.
“They have great overall athleticism,” said Kinnamon, who is guiding an MHS team to state for the 10th time in his 15 years. “They have two outstanding guards in TraVaughn White and Kalen Allen. They have a couple of big kids that are 6-5 or so inside that rebound well. They are playing their best ball right now and anyone that can knock off Highland Park certainly gets our attention.”
White torched Highland Park for 29 points, making 11 of 15 floor shots. Allen had an off night with only three points, but is considered a 3-point bomber.
“We are going to have to make sure that we get back in transition and limit them to one shot,” Kinnamon said.
Washington shot a blazing 56 percent against the Scots and in addition to White’s 25 points, Myles Hibler scored 14 points, while DeAndre Clark and DeAndre Campbell tallied 10 apiece.
The Wildcats average 70.4 points, while MHS scores 69.4, so if both teams play their normal game, it should be a wildly entertaining affair.
The Bullpups survived a tough test from Hutchinson in their sub-state title game, winning a 58-46 verdict. The Salthawks had the edge in athleticism, but MHS won the execution battle.
“We played in a tough championship game and have to make sure that our mind-set is not just being happy to make the tournament, because we think that we are going to have three more games in the season,” Kinnamon said.
The Bullpups were able to survive the sub-state despite missing Jack Pyle, who averages nearly 20 points a game. Kinnamon does not expect him to play this week, calling his chances “slim.”
It’s been a group effort to replace Pyle, with Cory Horton and Travell Robinson getting the first call, joining the regular lineup of Treg Fawl, Christian Ulsaker, Parker Hambley and Jordan Hart.
Andover Central is favored to win the other game on the Bullpups’ side of the bracket. In the top half, Miege has been the best team in 5A all year and enters the tournament undefeated.
McPherson, Kan. —
