McPHERSON – McPherson had to make an adjustment to the adjustment.

The Bullpups couldn’t miss to start the game, flexing out on a 14-0 run behind 3s by Riley Hett and Taylor Robertson. Buhler coach Brittany Warner elected not to call a timeout and let her team play through the array of 3s during the McPherson run.

The move paid off as Buhler outscored McPherson 9-2, going on a 7-0 run to end the first quarter, but McPherson head coach Chris Strathman had an answer for Buhler as the Bullpups exploded in the third quarter to rout their rivals 60-29 Tuesday night.

McPherson improves to 6-1 on the season. Buhler (0-6) is searching for their first win of the young season. The Crusaders hung around for a short period before McPherson ran away from Buhler. The Bullpups outscored the Crusaders 32-15 in the second half.

“From 14-0 and ending the half 28-14, they played us evenly from that time on,” Strathman said. “They did a good job of finding themselves and coming back on us a little bit. They were in their junk defense with Haley Miller face guarding Taylor (Robertson) and they got us out of rhythm."

The score could’ve been 24-0 as shots by the Bullpups rattled in and out the rim. Buhler’s Alexis Hutton made a basket to make it a 16-9 game, then Libby Schultz hit two free throws cut it to a 5-point game before back-to-back 3s by Robertson and Lakyn Schieferecke stretched the lead. Robertson led all scorers with 15 points on 6 of 10 from the field and 3 of 7 from 3-point range.

“We decided that coming in we’re going to play our game to don’t worry about the score and just play the best we can on every play,” Robertson said. “They made a run. It’s a game of runs. We had to come back and respond with our own and make plays.”

Alyvia Owens continues to shine for Buhler, dropping in a 12 point, 11 rebound double-double for the Crusaders. But McPherson was too much for Buhler. The Crusaders attempted 29 field goals, hitting nine. McPherson hit 22 field goals on 61 attempts with nine made 3s.