McPHERSON, Kan. - The Hutchinson Salthawk boys basketball team found a way to rally from eight points down with 2:16 to go to advance to the Championship game of the 60th McPherson Invitational Tournament Friday night and defeat the Blue Valley Tigers 53 to 48 in a thriller at the round house in McPherson.
The Salthawks looked like they were going to make easy work of the Tigers when they had a 12 point, 14-2 lead early in the second quarter, but the Tigers clawed their way back into the game by scoring 23 second quarter points to lead 25-23 at the half.
But the tenacious Hutch High defense rallied back in the second half to pull away in the final two minutes of play to come out on top.
Hutch High Junior Julian Smith was the hero by scoring a basket while being fouled in the fourth quarter. Smith hit the and-one, plus got a steal on an in-bound play to score a basket. Later in the quarter he hit a key 3 point shot to give Hutch the lead at 50-48.
It wasn't without controversy however. Blue Valley led 39-35 going into the final quarter but a late scoreboard error gave a Salthawk basket to Blue Valley which caused confusion for both staffs. After the error was alerted by the officials, Hutchinson had a 50-48 lead inside of 30 seconds to play in the game.
The Salthawks forced a Tiger turnover and Julian Smith hit the back end of a two shot foul, plus Jax Heneha nailed both free throws when Blue Valley was forced to foul to extend the game. The final score ended at 53-48.
Hutchinson now meets up with the top seeded and undefeated McPherson Bull Pups in the Championship. Mac got by Derby in a close game 62 to 55 in the other semi-final game Friday night.
The Salthawks were led by Julian Smith with 18 points. Smith scored 15 of his 18 points in the 2nd half including 9 points in the final 2 minutes of the game. Terrell King had 15 including a key deep right corner 3 pointer that started the fourth quarter rally. Jax Heneha added 9 and Devon Spiller scored five.
Blue Valley was led in scoring by Dean Markes 21 points, Enock Rodriguez had 8 while Noah Summer had 7. Markes scored 14 points in the 2nd quarter to allow Blue Valley to lead at the half.
MIT Semi-Final
(2) Hutchinson 53, (3) Blue Valley 48
Hutchinson trailed 39-35 at the end of the 3rd quarter, but outscored Blue Valley 18-9 in the 4th quarter.
Top Performers:
Hutchinson:
Julian Smith – 18 pts, 6 reb, 6-8 FG, 4-5 3PT
Terrell King – 15 pts, 6 reb, 6-16 FG
Blue Valley:
Dean Markes – 21 pts, 7-14 FG, 3-6 3PT
Enoch Rodriguez – 8 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast, 3 blk
Saturday, Jan. 20 Matchups:
11:00 a.m. – 7th Place – (7) St. James Academy vs. (8) Wichita-Bishop Carroll
12:35 p.m. – 5th place – (5) Lawrence Free State vs. (6) Topeka-Seaman
2:10 p.m. – 3rd place – (3) Blue Valley vs. (4) Derby
3:45 p.m. – Championship – (1) McPherson vs. (2) Hutchinson
Tournament Stat Leaders:
Points:
- Gabe Pyle (McPherson) – 39 (19.5/game)
- Dean Markes (Blue Valley) – 35 (17.5/game)
- Cory Muehler (McPherson) & Julian Smith (Hutchinson) – 32 (16.0/game)
Field Goal Percentage (Min 3.0 FG attempts/game)
- Cory Muehler (McPherson) – 78.6% (11/14)
- Jack Unruh (Seaman) – 75.0% (9/12)
- Kaden Franklin (Derby) – 66.7% (10/15)
3pt Field Goals Made (Min 2.0 attempts/game)
- Julian Smith (Hutchinson) – 8
- Cory Muehler & Gabe Pyle (McPherson) – 7
3pt Field Goal Percentage (Min 2.0 attempts/game)
- Cory Muehler (McPherson) – 87.5% (7/8)
- Gabe Pyle (McPherson) – 63.6% (7/11)
- Julian Smith (Hutchinson) – 61.5% (8/13)
Total Rebounds
- Kaden Franklin (Derby) – 24 (12.0/game)
- Enoch Rodriguez (Blue Valley) – 18 (9.0/game)
- Dean Markes (Blue Valley) & Braxton Martin (Bishop Carroll) – 15 (7.5/game)
Assists
- Kyden Thompson (McPherson) – 18 (9.0/game)
- Reese Peterson (Bishop Carroll) – 9 (4.5/game)
- Holden Finley (Seaman) & Jacob Fratzel (St. James) – 7 (3.5/game)
Steals
- Dean Markes (Blue Valley) & Dallas Metzger (Derby) – 6 (3.0/game)
- 3 players with 5 (2.5/game)Gabe Pyle (McPherson)Kyden Thompson (McPherson)Landon Wiltz (Seaman)
- Gabe Pyle (McPherson)
- Kyden Thompson (McPherson)
- Landon Wiltz (Seaman)
Blocks
- Kaden Franklin (Derby) – 5 (2.5/game)
- Enoch Rodriguez (Blue Valley) – 4 (2.0/game)
- Dean Markes (Blue Valley) – 3 (1.5/game)