Junction City escaped with an overtime 61-57 win over the Washburn Rural Junior Blues in the semifinal round of the Bobcat invitational Friday evening in Basehor. The Blue Jays will advance to the tournament championship game against Basehor-Linwood at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The Bobcats defeated Raytown South 60-51 in the other semifinal game.
Junction City trailed by five at halftime and seven in the third quarter before surging back to carve out their own seven point lead in the fourth quarter. Washburn Rural ( 5-4 )rallied and tied the game with seven seconds remaining in the fourth quarter 52-52 on a three point basket by Griffin Durst before the Blue Jays went on to the victory in overtime.
Blue Jay coach Nick Perez noted Junction City found a way to win. "I told them in there ( locker room ) good teams find ways to win." Howard Johnson led Junction City with 24 points while Deontae baker came off the bench to score 14 points in the victory for the Blue Jays ( 8-1 ).
Saturday evening's ballgame can be heard on 107.9 FM and 1420 KJCK AM.