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When Donnie Campbell was a youngster growing up in nearby Lyons, he used to come over to the Roundhouse to watch the great teams from McPherson, Wichita and Salina battle it out for the McPherson Invitational title.
Now, some 30 years later, he knows what those teams felt like when they won the championship.
Campbell, who was a sports legend at Lyons, and went on to play football at Kansas State, has brought several talented Blue Valley West teams into the Roundhouse, only to return home empty-handed.
That is, until Saturday.
The Jaguars saw a 10-point lead disappear in the fourth quarter against the host Bullpups, but they got up from that haymaker to pull away at the end for a 55-49 victory.
“I can still remember coming over here when I was younger watching this tournament and seeing all the great players,” said Campbell, whose team is now 8-3 on the year. “So to win this, close to my hometown, is special. I wish my parents could have been here tonight. ... What a special, special place. To beat McPherson, in this gym, before these fans, I feel like I’m a pretty lucky coach.”
In the fourth quarter, it appeared the Bullpups were conjuring up some of their famous “McPherson magic.” Down 42-32, freshman Kyler Kinnamon led a Bullpup charge that enabled them to pull even at 45-45 with 2:32 to go. Kinnamon had eight points during the 12-3 run that had the Roundhouse crowd begging for more, but there was no more to give.
West scored the next seven points, as MHS hurt itself with poor foul shooting. In the final period, the Bullpups were just 3 of 8, with misses coming when they needed makes the most.
Tripp Roy, the unsung point guard, made 6 of 6 in the final 46 seconds to seal the deal for the Jags.
“Our MVP was Tripp Roy,” Campbell said. “He was bringing the ball against a lot of pressure. He makes very few mistakes and is very efficient in what he does. If we need a big shot, he knocks it down. He makes free throws when we need them most. We’re not winning it without him.”
The Bullpups had gotten off to a good start, up 11-4 just over five minutes into the game, but then went dormant. They scored only five points over the next 11 minutes and Kinnamon’s 3-point bomb from midcourt as the buzzer went off before halftime was MHS’ only field goal in that stretch as it trailed 23-19.
When Donnie Campbell was a youngster growing up in nearby Lyons, he used to come over to the Roundhouse to watch the great teams from McPherson, Wichita and Salina battle it out for the McPherson Invitational title.
Now, some 30 years later, he knows what those teams felt like when they won the championship.
Campbell, who was a sports legend at Lyons, and went on to play football at Kansas State, has brought several talented Blue Valley West teams into the Roundhouse, only to return home empty-handed.
That is, until Saturday.
The Jaguars saw a 10-point lead disappear in the fourth quarter against the host Bullpups, but they got up from that haymaker to pull away at the end for a 55-49 victory.
“I can still remember coming over here when I was younger watching this tournament and seeing all the great players,” said Campbell, whose team is now 8-3 on the year. “So to win this, close to my hometown, is special. I wish my parents could have been here tonight. ... What a special, special place. To beat McPherson, in this gym, before these fans, I feel like I’m a pretty lucky coach.”
In the fourth quarter, it appeared the Bullpups were conjuring up some of their famous “McPherson magic.” Down 42-32, freshman Kyler Kinnamon led a Bullpup charge that enabled them to pull even at 45-45 with 2:32 to go. Kinnamon had eight points during the 12-3 run that had the Roundhouse crowd begging for more, but there was no more to give.
West scored the next seven points, as MHS hurt itself with poor foul shooting. In the final period, the Bullpups were just 3 of 8, with misses coming when they needed makes the most.
Tripp Roy, the unsung point guard, made 6 of 6 in the final 46 seconds to seal the deal for the Jags.
“Our MVP was Tripp Roy,” Campbell said. “He was bringing the ball against a lot of pressure. He makes very few mistakes and is very efficient in what he does. If we need a big shot, he knocks it down. He makes free throws when we need them most. We’re not winning it without him.”
The Bullpups had gotten off to a good start, up 11-4 just over five minutes into the game, but then went dormant. They scored only five points over the next 11 minutes and Kinnamon’s 3-point bomb from midcourt as the buzzer went off before halftime was MHS’ only field goal in that stretch as it trailed 23-19.
West used a late run in the third quarter to push the lead to 38-28 before the Bullpups finally excited their crowd with their run that finally flamed out.
Still, MHS coach Kurt Kinnamon couldn’t have been more pleased with his team’s fight. It was overmatched inside, evident by West’s 37-20 rebounding advantage, but forced the Jags into 24 turnovers. But 10 of 18 at the line was a telling stat, especially when West was making 18 of 22.
“They hung with it and we made a great run to get it tied,” Kinnamon said. “That’s kind of indicative of our team, not to give up. Blue Valley West is just so physical. I thought their physicalness bothered us. How many shots did we miss at the rim? We missed a lot of 2-footers. To get outrebounded by 17, that’s an unbelieveable number. And then you go 10 of 18 at the line. It’s tough to overcome something like that, and yet we were right there.”
Kyler Kinnamon and Cody Cape scored 15 apiece for MHS, while Jordan Hart added 12. Hart, Chase Miller and Travell Robinson were named All-Tourney by the coaches who voted.
Ryan Ralston came off the bench for 18 points, 14 of those in the first half. Roy scored 12 and Collin Wiles added 11.
MHS is right back at it here tonight, hosting Newton. See a preview on page B-2.
