You'd never know by the final score, but the McPherson High boys spent the first quarter Friday night in Scaryville.

Newton's Railers came to town having lost 16 games in a row to the Bullpups, but they came out as though they were going to end that streak.

Newton punctured MHS' proud defense for 23 first-quarter points and had a 14-point lead at one stage.

But MHS coach Kurt Kinnamon knew two things: 1) Newton would not score 23 points in every quarter and 2) the Bullpups' defense would eventually create some turnovers.

That's exactly what happened, as the game wound up swinging 38 points, as the Bullpups came away with a 73-49 victory, their fourth in a row to improve to 9-4.

“They shot the ball so well early,” Kinnamon said. “Gordon (assistant coach Peck) said, ‘do you want to take a timeout and I said no, not really. I felt we'd be all right. I knew our pressure would eventually create something.'”

The Bullpups went to some zone trapping and it was evident in the second quarter the tide would turn. Down 30-21, MHS scored the final 11 points of the half to grab a 32-30 lead.

It started to unravel in the third quarter for Newton, as the Bullpups continued to use their superior athleticism on defense to create numerous easy baskets after steals. The Railers wound up with 26 turnovers and MHS shot a lot of layups.

“We had a lot of nice assists tonight,” Kinnamon said. “The nice thing is we suited up 13 and I think all 13 scored.”

The Bullpups scored their second-highest point total of the year, as they also reintroduced themselves to the 3-point shot, making four, and also improved at the line by going 23 of 33.

“Seventy-three points seemed like 100,” Kinnamon said. “We moved the ball well and ran the court well.”

Trent Ruxlow fired in 17 points to lead the Bullpups, while Jordan Crawford added 13 and Chris Crawford scored 10. Myles Davidson scored 20 for the Railers, which has been his average much of the year.

MHS swept the evening. The JVs, playing in the big arena for the first time, raced to a 72-49 win to move to 10-0. Kolin Walk's 17 points led the way, and Vince Ruxlow and Cody Fawl added 10.

The freshmen are now 11-0 after a 78-50 rout. Adam Bruner's 20 points were tops, while Levi Gerhardt scored 15, Ross Klein added 12 and Tyler Burch scored 10.

The sophomores are now 5-4. They were matched against Great Bend and won a wild racehorse contest, 86-73. Vince Ruxlow's 22 points were tops, while Josh Piper added 19, Walk and Chad Nieman scored 12 apiece, and Will Anderson had 10.

The sophomores also had played earlier this week and lost 57-37 to Hutchinson. No information had been available. Nieman and Piper scored 11 and 10 respectively.

MHS is off until Friday when it goes to Campus.

MHS (73) -- Burch 2 0-0 5; Dahlstrom 2 2-2 6; Miller 0 1-2 1; J. Anderson 1 2-2 4; J. Crawford 5 2-6 13; C. Crawford 4 2-3 10; Fawl 0 1-2 1; Frazier 1 3-4 5; Bruner 1 0-0 2; Thissen 1 3-5 5; Tu. Hawkinson 0 2-2 2; T. Ruxlow 5 5-5 17; Loecker 1 0-0 2. Totals -- 23 23-33 73. 3-pointers -- T. Ruxlow 2, Burch 1, J. Crawford 1.

Newton (49) -- Fromm 0 1-2 1; Gonzalez 0 2-2 2; Lee 2 0-0 5; Wright 1 3-4 5; S. Davidson 6 0--1 12; M. Davidson 6 5-6 20; Voelker 1 2-4 4. Totals -- 16 13-19 49. 3-pointers -- Davidson 3, Lee 1.

MHS JV (72) -- W. Anderson 2 0-0 4; Nieman 0 4-4 4; J. Anderson 2 2-3 6; Walk 6 2-2 17; V. Ruxlow 4 0-0 10; Fawl 5 0-2 10; Piper 0 0-1 0; Frazier 3 0-2 6; Tu. Hawkinson 2 0-0 4; Loecker 3 0-1 6; A. Bruner 0 2-2 2; Stucky 1 1-2 3. Totals -- 28 11-19 72. 3--pointers -- Walk 3, V. Ruxlow 2.

MHS sophs (86) -- Nieman 2 8-10 12; Porter 0 1-2 2; Walk 3 5-7 12; V. Ruxlow 8 2-2 22; W. Anderson 3 4-4 10; Piper 7 2-3 19; Honomichl 1 0-0 2; Stucky 3 2-2 8. Totals -- 27 24-30 86. 3-pointers -- V. Ruxlow 4, Piper 3, Walk 1.

MHS sophs (37) -- Young 1 0-0 3; Nieman 3 4-4 11; Leach 1 0-0 2; Piper 4 1-1 10; Love 2 0-0 4; Stucky 3 1-2 7. Totals -- 14 6-7 37. 3-pointers -- Young 1, Nieman 1, Piper 1.

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