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Blazers pull away from Trojans to advance in Mac

Posted on Jan. 26th, 2012

Ryan Ragland

When the bracket seedings came out for the 17th Annual Mid-America Classic in McPherson, many were surprised to see the Blazers with a 9-1 record seeded #4. But when you have three other teams that are undefeated, that will put a one loss team at #4.

The Blazers had to open with a 3A Beloit team that was riding a six game winning streak. The Blazers knew they were going to have their hands full with a scrappy Trojan team.

The Blazers needed to come out quick and take control of the game, and they were able to do that starting with an 8-0 run, with Molly Porter hitting two quick three-point buckets to start the game. Beloit answered with a 9-0 run of their own to take the lead. Kyra Burcham stopped the bleeding a bit by hitting a bucket with 1:30 to go in the first quarter to give the Blazers a 10-9 lead going into the second quarter.

The Blazers stretched their lead to five with 6:00 to go in the half. Beloit stayed strong with their 2-3 zone as the Blazers were able to play the high-low game well but had problems putting the ball in the bucket and managed only one field goal for the remainder of the half. The Trojans hit only one of eight free throws in the quarter and still managed to tie the game at the half, 18-18.

Neither team was able to score a single bucket for the first four minutes of the third quarter. Finally Kari Devlin started to get the inside game going hitting three buckets in less then a minute, giving the Blazers a six point lead. The Blazer defense held the Trojans to one field to take a 31-20 lead.

In the fourth quarter the Blazers were only able to convert four of six free throws and one bucket for their scoring, but were able to hold on for a 37-27 win and advance to the winners bracket. They will now take on a team that Head Coach Scott Schaefer coach took to four state titles, McPherson. The Bullpups were able to manhandle Goddard, 80-28 to advance to set up this great match up.

Game time is scheduled for 7:15 and the Blazer Broadcast Network will have pre-game coverage start as soon as the game prior is complete.

Friday Bracket Schedule:

Losers Side
3:00 Buhler (5-5) -v- Manhattan (8-1)
4:30 Goddard (3-8) -v- Beloit (7-4)

Winners Side
6:00 Andale (10-0) -v- Hays (7-3)
7:30 Gardner Edgerton (10-1) -v- McPherson (11-0)