McPHERSON, Kan. - Both Hutch High and St. James Academy started out slow unitl St. James hit a basket and a foul shot with 4:46 to go in the first quarter. Then the Salthawks jumped out to a 15 to 5 lead going into the 2nd quarter and extended it to a 13 point lead at the half in the first round of the 60th annual McPherson Invitational Tournament.
The Salthawks built the lead to 21 points at one time in the second half before the Thunders scored 16 points against the Salthawk reserves in the final quarter. Final score, Hutchinson 45, St. James Acadamy 34.
Hutchinson was led by Julian Smith with 14 points including 4 three point baskets. Terrell King followed with 10 points. Jax Heneha and Jay Lewis both scored 7 points. Devon Spiller 2, Tai Clark 3 and Taishaun Govain had 2.
Jack Alters led the Thunder with 6 points. Emmitt Peters came off the bench to add 5 points.
Hutchinson, now 7-1, will meet Blue Valley Randolph at 6:10pm in one of the semi-final games on Friday night. McPherson (7-0) won big over Wichita Bishop Carroll, while Derby defeated Lawrence Free State in the other first round games.