Magical Season for Russell Boys Comes to a Close
The Russell High School boys basketball team saw its season come to a close with a 65-38 loss to Southeast of Saline in the Russell Class 3A Sub-State Semifinals on Friday, March 3 at Amos Morris Gym in Russell.
The top seed and second-ranked in the state Trojans jumped out to a 26-10 lead after one quarter, led 42-18 at halftime, led 59-27 after three periods and cruised to the 65-38 win.
Senior Jordayn Buhrle led four-seed Russell with 10 points and a dunk. Seniors Jackson Cross and David Pummell each scored nine points. Pummell also had eight rebounds.
Senior Nakari Morrical-Palmer paced Southeast of Saline with 20 points. 10 Trojans scored.
SES outrebounded the Broncos 22 to 21 overall and 10 to 3 on the offensive glass.
Russell committed 20 turnovers compared to just eight for the Trojans.
The Russell boys finish the 2022-2023 season with a 14-9 overall record - the best record for RHS since going 15-7 in 1990-1991. The Broncos were 7-4 in the Mid-Continent League.
Friday night was the last time in a Bronco basketball uniform for seniors Jackson Cross, Charlie Krug, Wyatt Middleton, Cameron Farmer, Brayden Strobel, Jace Peerman, David Pummell and Jordayn Buhrle.
The Southeast of Saline boys join their female counterparts in the Russell Class 3A Sub-State Championship games on Saturday, March 4 at Amos Morris Gym.
The second-seeded SES girls face top seed Phillipsburg in the title game and the Southeast of Saline boys face league rival and two-seed Beloit with a trip to Hutchinson next week on the line.