4A Tourney Day One: Upsets and Highlight Performances

<p>The first day of tournament action saw some big developments at the 4A gathering at Salina.</p> <p>Here are some big moments and player updates:</p> <p>Hayden upsets #1 Eudora:</p> <p>Hayden could have been left for dead a month ago. But playing in the Centennial League had prepared them for the best 4A had to offer. The Wildcats knocked off the Cardinals with defense and 43 second-half points. [player_tooltip player_id="1080188" first="Joe" last="Otting"] battled the Eudora bigs and came up with 23 points (18 in the second half) and 9 rebounds. [player_tooltip player_id="1300793" first="Trent" last="Duffey"] added 16.</p> <p>Madron and sophomore guards take down #2 Buhler:</p> <p>No surprise, senior [player_tooltip player_id="946262" first="Seth" last="Madron"] was the leading man in McPherson’s upset of Buhler. He got 20 points, 11 boards and 5 assists in a do-it-all performance. But it was a trio of sophomore guards that helped make it happen. 5-foot-11 <strong>Cory Muehler</strong> and 6-foot <strong>Owen Pyle</strong> hit from deep and handled the pressure. 6-foot-1 <strong>Kreighton Kanitz</strong> stood out at the defenseive end with athleticism and craftiness, making several steals and blocks.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="891918" first="Isaiah" last="Hernandez"] shows off his talents one last time:</p> <p>The 5-foot-11 point guard showed off just how smooth and intelligent he is in his final game. Hernandez is always in control, with his eyes up. Fouls limited his minutes in his final game, but he showed that he’s a skilled leader one more time.</p> <p>Paola bigs are overcome by Andale:</p> <p>Buhler brought some serious size to the 4A tournament. In addition to 6-foot-6 [player_tooltip player_id="891906" first="Trey" last="Moala"] (pictured), the Panthers got nice versatile play from 6-foot-5 senior forward <strong>Caden Marcum</strong>. He is a springy big who can pass, hit the three and handle the ball. He finished with 12. Senior bigs <strong>Dalton Picek</strong> and <strong>Caden Rhamy</strong> were also tough in the paint and on the glass. Moala put on a show in his final game. He scored 30 of Paola’s 52 points, with 21 coming after halftime. He handled the ball, attacked the lane, scored in the post and on pull-up jumpers. He defended with intensity and scored on some athletic maneuvers through traffic.</p> <p>Miege steamrolls Abilene:</p> <p>Miege built a huge 40-11 lead in the first half and just had too much talent in its starting five for the Cowboys. 6-foot-6 [player_tooltip player_id="1372655" first="Kellan" last="Boylan"] demonstrated that he can handle the ball full court, dish it to shooters, run the floor and clean up the boards. Add to that a sweet dunk on an ally oop, and Boylan was impressive. But so was the entire Stags team for that matter.</p>