SALINA -- The McPherson Bullpups are a darn good free-throw shooting team.

That skill alone isn’t enough to win a lot of games, but it sure can help.

During the pressure-packed closing minutes of Friday’s Class 4A state semifinal with Bishop Miege, the Bullpups made their free throws -- all of their free throws -- when they counted most.

McPherson went 12 for 12 at the line in the game’s final 2:09, and eight of the 12 came when the Bullpups were protecting a one-possession lead.

“Early in the year we were on pace to set a state record for free throw percentage, like at 78 percent as a team,” McPherson coach Kurt Kinnamon said. “I may have made a mistake by mentioning that to our players and it went down, but I still know that we’re an extremely good free-throw shooting team. 

“I’m awfully proud of them. Nothing makes me more proud than kids that compete and I thought our kids competed like crazy tonight.”

With the victory, McPherson (21-3) advances to Saturday’s 4 p.m. state title contest, where it will face top-seed Hugoton (22-2), which blew past Eudora 55-35 in the opening semifinal game. Miege (17-7) takes on Eudora (19-5) in the third-place contest at noon.

“Hugoton’s good,” Kinnamon said. “I’ve not seen a high school team make tough shots like they do. It’s like they have four Kobe Bryants out there that make fadeaway tough shots.

“When they don’t, they’re athletic enough to chase. I hope we don’t think that it’s over.”

McPherson led by as many as 10 points in the first half and never trailed in the final two quarters. But in the fourth quarter, Miege had five possessions where they trailed by three points or less and had a chance to tie or take the lead.

“It kind of looked like men against boys out there at times,” Kinnamon said. “If we were having a track meet or a weight lifting contest, we probably would have lost. But I like our basketball skills and our instincts.”

When Daegen Jensen scored in the lane for Miege, the Stags were down 48-46 with 2:21 to play. McPherson went to the line on each of its last six possessions and converted both free throw attempts each time.

That included 6 of 6 for junior Kyden Thompson and 4 of 4 from junior Owen Pyle. Thompson made two charity shots with 21.4 seconds to play to make it 58-54, and the final two points of the game with 7.6 seconds remaining to seal it.

“I think we’re a pretty good free-throw shooting team,” Thompson said. “We usually make a lot of them when we are under pressure.

“It’s what we practice every day and this is when it’s most needed.”

Thompson finished with 16 points and Kreighton Kanitz had 12 for the Bullpups, with Mason Miller leading the team with 12 rebounds. Mac Armstrong and Aidan Wing had 13 points each for Miege, while Jensen added 10.
 

HUGOTON 55, EUDORA 35 -- All Carson Bennett and Ryle Riddlesperger wanted was a chance to play for a state championship in their final high school game together.

Now the Hugoton seniors will try to bring the Eagles their first state title in program history.

Bennett and Riddlesperger, making their first appearance in a state semifinal, combined for 33 points in Hugoton’s wire-to-wire victory over Eudora on Friday.

“This has been my dream since I’ve been playing basketball,” Bennett said. “It’s a huge game but you have to love those games.”

“It’s exciting and I’m ready,” Riddlesperger said. “I know my team is ready and we’re coming.”

The Eagles started about as well as head coach Trey O’Neil could have hoped. Hugoton never trailed after scoring the game’s first seven points and made 10 of its first 14 field goal attempts while building a 24-6 lead midway through the second quarter.

Eudora was able to hold the Eagles to two points over the final four minutes of the first half, but still trailed 26-13 at halftime.

“Our guys followed the game plan on defense and we’re very skilled on the offensive side,” O’Neil said. “They did a really good job of taking what is there, not forcing anything and relying on their teammates.”

“The preparation before this game was big,” Riddlesperger said. “We had two really good days of practice and our coaches put a lot of time into watching film and making sure we had the best results possible.”

Eudora got as close as eight points after back-to-back baskets from Conor Dunback and Maddox Votaw made it 31-23 with 2:20 to play in the third. Hugoton answered with 3-pointers from Bennett and reserve Griffin Heger to end the third.

“I thought we had great poise in the moment,” O’Neil said. “We knew Eudora was going to make a run. They’re a well-coached team, but our guys just stepped up.

“It was a big shot by Heger in the corner and a big 3-pointer in the other corner by Riddlesperger that kind of got us on that run.”

“When we’re playing well we’re crashing the boards really hard, moving the ball, taking good shots and playing at our pace,” Bennett said.

Riddlesperger’s 19 points led all scorers, with Bennett adding 14. Junior guard Desean Lewis had 7 points, 7 assists and 8 rebounds for the Eagles, with junior Emmett Gaskill adding eight rebounds.

Dunback’s 14 points and 10 rebounds led Eudora.
 

CLASS 4A BOYS SEMIFINALS

HUGOTON 55, EUDORA 35

Eudora … 4 … 9 … 10 … 12 … -- … 35

Hugoton … 15 … 11 … 11 … 18 … -- … 55

Eudora (19-5) – Hammerschmidt 3-7 0-3 6, Parker 1-6 0-0 2, Dunback 7-12 0-1 14, Barron 1-2 0-0 2, Sullivan 3-15 3-6 9, Deterding 0-0 0-0 0, Giffin 0-0 0-0 0, Watson 0-1 0-0 0, Siemon 01 0-0 0, Stedry 0-0 0-0 0, Younkin 0-0 0-0 0, Votaw 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 16-46 3-10 35.

Hugoton (22-2) – Lewis 3-5 0-3 7, Riddlesperger 7-16 0-0 19, Bennett 6-13 0-0 14, Martin 1-3 2-2 4, Gaskill 2-2 2-2 6, Heger 1-1 0-0 3, Acosta 0-0 0-0 0, Delgado 0-0 0-0 0, Hernandez 0-0 0-0 0, Niehues 0-0 0-0 0, Harris 0-0 0-0 0, Jimnez 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 20-40 6-9 55.

3-point goals – Eudora 0-15 (Hammerschmidt 0-2, Parker 0-4, Sullivan 0-9); Hugoton 9-24 (Lewis 1-2, Riddlesperger 5-14, Bennett 2-6, Martin 0-1, Heger 1-1). Rebounds – Eudora 22 (Dunback 10); Hugoton 32 (Lewis 8, Gaskill 8). Assists – Eudora 7 (Hammerschmidt 2, Sullivan 2); Hugoton 8 (Gaskill 3). Turnovers – Eudora 10, Hugoton 13. Total fouls – Eudora 13, Hugoton 11. Fouled out – .None.