February 2024

By Joel Muhs jmuhs@cherryroad.com MCPHERSON, Kansas – After navigating the regular season with a perfect 20-0 record, the slate was wiped clean to begin sub-state… Login to continue reading Login…

MOUNDRIDGE, Kansas – Offensive and defensive firepower was in no shortage Monday night in the opening round of sub-state, as the Moundridge girls basketball team stifled the Herington Railers on both ends of the court in their 75-26 blowout win.Moundridge ended its regular season last Tuesday with a 59-36 win over Sterling to improve their record to 17-3, but Monday night’s 18th win of the season for the Lady Wildcats came in dominant fashion as they crushing Herington by 49 points to advance to the semifinals of sub-state on Thursday.Coming into Monday night, Moundridge held the No.

MOUNDRIDGE, Kansas – First-year Moundridge coach Dustan Kanitz’ first game in the postseason was checked off as a rousing success following Monday night, as the Wildcats dismantled Herington 79-43 in the opening round of sub-state.The last time Moundridge saw the court prior to Monday night’s postseason opener was Tuesday, February 20 when the class 2A No.

Now that the 2023-24 regular season has ended, the six McPherson County area small schools have entered the time of basketball sub-state tournaments.While four schools, Little River, Inman, Smoky Valley, and Moundridge finished their regular season with games on Tuesday, February 20, we also had Elyria Christian, Canton/Galva and Little River begin their sub-state tournaments at the end of the week.The Moundridge boys, Little River girls, and Elyria Christian boys were all placed as the number one seed for their sub-state tournaments.As for sub-state play, all six schools were to have begun action by Monday, February 26.Here is a summary of the sub-state schedules and any events played the past week for all six schools:MOUNDRIDGE WILDCATSIt was a heart stopping end of the regular season for the Moundridge Wildcats as Kreighton Kanitz scored nine of his game high 21 points in the fourth quarter to lift Moundridge to a two-point, 54-52 win over the Sterling Black Bears.

SALINA, Kansas – The conclusion of the high school wrestling season came to a head at Salina’s Tony’s Pizza Events Center last week where classes 4A-1A in both boys and girls wrestling competed at state, but three of McPherson’s eight state wrestlers came away with a medal.McPherson Girls:Following regionals that was held at McPherson High School, the Bullpup girls sent two wrestlers to state in the form of Hunter Wilson in the 155-pound weight class and Ciara Rawson in the 235-pound weight class.

With the blink of an eye, another McPherson High School basketball regular season came to a close last week, but the Bullpups used the bitter-sweet night to sweep away Mulvane on senior night to head into the postseason with plenty of momentum.McPherson Boys:For the first time since the 2014-2015 season, the McPherson boys basketball team has completed the regular season with an unblemished record after the Bullpups clobbered Mulvane 79-46 on Thursday, February 22 to reach 20-0 on the season.Last season, McPherson finished with a 21-4 record and a state runner-up finish in class 4A as their only losses were to 6A’s Derby, Manhattan, Lawrence Free State and 4A’s Hugoton in the state title game.After returning much of its production from that 21-4 team a season ago, McPherson matched its preseason hype with elite play on the court by avenging its loss to Derby (twice), taking down 4A power Bishop Miege, winning the McPherson Invitational Tournament for the first time since 2018 and finishing the regular season with an undefeated record.“The kids have goals for themselves and they would never say it I don’t think, but as long as you’re going to play you might as well win them all,” McPherson head boys basketball coach Kurt Kinnamon said after his team completed a 20-0 regular season last Thursday.