by joanna

update 9:33 p.m. – Buhler wins 60-31.

update 9:15 p.m. –The Buhler student section — the largest student section I’ve seen in a tournament yet (including the three tourney games at Highland Park last week) — did the roller coaster again for me. So I hope to have it on the blog next week.

Andover Central beat Rose Hill 36-35 to advance to Saturday’s finals. Newton beat Beloit 39-36 to advance to the fifth-place game, and Salina South beat Garden City 66-43.

Collegiate beat Clay Center 60-30 at the El Dorado tourney and will be in the finals on Saturday.

update 9 p.m. – Buhler is smacking Hays right now, up 34-14 at the half. This is a nice Buhler team — quick, good shooters. I like what they can do.

OK, that Goddard game. Goddard played poorly, and I’m being nice here. I know, Goddard’s short on players, and maybe the Lions wouldn’t have won if they had played better. But St. John beat Goddard badly — 28 points!

Coach Lee Keller was frustrated, disappointed and embarrassed. Understandable.

Moving on. Buhler’s student section did an excellent rendition of the roller coaster. I’m holding myself back from asking them to do it over for me so I can get it on my camera’s video and then post it on the blog. I still need to post a clip I did of the Highland Park band playing.

North girls beat Leavenworth.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I got a nice invitation from a Havenite to come see their tournament. Seemed like a nice person. Alas, I’ll be a the Kapaun tourney on Saturday.

update:7:50 p.m.–St. John just beat Goddard 58-30. Unbelievable.

West girls won a game at the Pratt tournament today, ending a 38-game losing streak. Congrats to them.

update 7:10 p.m. — It’s halftime at McPherson and little bitty 1A St. John is leading Goddard 27-13. Yep. Now, this is a good St. John team. Alisha Fanshier is an athlete and she’s got seven points. Then there’s Beth Cornwell inside — she’s got six.

And yes, Goddard is depleted. With multiple players out, there’s a short Lions bench. Lindsey Keller is 2 of 8 for Goddard — she missed her first four shots. Goddard has missed 12 of 18 shots but worse than that — it has committed 14 turnovers and only forced seven. Not a good ratio.

Buhler and Hays are up next. Buhler’s Tanya Friesen is sporting a pink cast, so she’s out.

update — 6:15 p.m. – Winfield defeats East 52-45 at El Dorado tourney, McPherson beats Blue Valley West 41-22 (holding BV West scoreless for nearly 12 minutes at one point), and SM North beat Wichita South 65-26.

I’m at McPherson’s Roundhouse. I love this gym. It’s so bright, it has such a homey feel with the closeness of the seats, and I love the people here.

Just talked to Carol Swenson, the McPherson College SID. He’s possibly the nicest guy that I’ve ever met. Then there’s the guys who do the stats. They’ve been here for years, so I see them every time I come here or cover the Class 5A tournament, where a Swenson-led crew does the stats. One just stopped by to say Mac has all-beef hot dogs for $1.50 (that’s in reference to the concession stands post).

And Kurt Kinnamon just made a stop by the press table to see if I was blogging. Of course I am. It’s addicting.

There’s officials here that I like, too. Including Bret Eckert, one of the officials who I got snowed in at a Liberal basketball sub-state in 1998. Then there’s Joe Kleinsasser. Another good guy.

Then there’s the media — Larry Moritz from the Salina Journal, who I sat with yesterday at the Newton tourney for the Andover Central-Salina South game. And Harold Bechard from the Hutchinson News.

It should be an amusing time, to say the least.

Andale just beat Salina Central 44-37 and McPherson is getting ready to play Blue Valley West. I’m sure the Mac folks were disappointed to see the Pups lose in the first round — the first time in tourney history. I’m sure it will affect the crowd, although I bet Buhler brings a pretty good crowd for that nightcap.

The Kapaun tournament had its first game, Great Bend 39, Maize 32.

By the way, not sure if you saw those T-shirts that the Carroll basketball team sported after Don Racine won his 500th — his face as big as life with “The Don” written on them. Very cool.