It's been a few years since the Hutch High Salthawks opted out of the McPherson Invitational Tournament that is played each January at McPherson High School.
Hutchinson decided to travel to Colby for the Orange and Black Classic for a couple of years, then went to the Spring Hill Invitational outside of Kansas City before returning to the Tournament of Champions in Dodge City last season. Hutch captured the TOC crown in January of 2023.
This season, Hutchinson (5-1) returns to McPherson to participate in the 60th Annual McPherson Invitational Tournament as the No. 2 seed to open vs No. 7 seed St. James Academy (1-4) from Lenexa at 4:35 p.m. KWBW will broadcast that game from McPherson on 1450-AM/98.5-FM and can be streamed on the NFHSNetwork Hutch High Channel as well as audio on kwbwradio.com.
With a 6-0 record, the McPherson Bullpups will be the No. 1 seed, and will wrap up the first day of the tournament hosting Wichita-Bishop Carrol (1-6) Thurs. Jan. 18 at 7:45 p.m.
Here are the first round matchups for Thursday, January 18th
- 🏀 No. 3 Topeka-Seaman (3-2) vs. No. 6 Blue Valley (2-3) – 3:00 p.m.
- 🏀 No. 2 Hutchinson (5-1) vs. No. 7 St. James Academy (1-4) – 4:35 p.m.
- 🏀 No. 4 Lawrence-Free State (3-3) vs. No. 5 Derby (2-3) – 6:10 p.m.
- 🏀 No. 1 McPherson (6-0) vs. No. 8 Wichita-Bishop Carrol (1-6)– 7:45 p.m.
Fri. 1/19’s second-round matchups will begin at 3pm. Please refer to the bracket shown above.
Saturday's finals will tip off at 11am.
Game times are as follows:
- 7th place – 11:00 a.m.
- 5th place – 12:35 p.m.
- 3rd place – 2:10 p.m.
- Championship – 3:45 p.m.