By Matt Browning

The McPherson boys basketball team was chosen as the Visit Wichita Team of the Month for their 57-54 upset victory over Buhler in the 4A sub-state semifinals on March 5.

At one point during the season, the Bullpups were 6-7, but closed the season winning seven of their last ten.

I never lost faith in this group and they never lost faith in each other,” McPherson coach Kurt Kinnamon said. “I definitely thought that our best basketball was going to be at the end of the season.”

Seth Madron led McPherson in scoring at 16.8 points per game, while Jayton Alexander is second with 8.5 points per game.

However, it was the defensive side of the floor that spurred the Bullpups’ late-season rally, specifically against Buhler.

“We are buying in on the defensive end of the floor and taking personal pride in keeping the ball in front of us,” Kinnamon said. “I think we also have a much better mindset as far as when to help each other defensively.”

The Bullpups trailed Buhler by seven at halftime, but Kinnamon said his team never lost faith they could rally to win.

“It was really important that we not think about the “what ifs” and we stayed in the moment and we stayed in the moment,” Kinnamon said. “Our bench played great against Buhler and several came in and hit huge shots. I thought a big three that we hit at the end of the half to go down seven instead of ten really helped turn the momentum of the game.”