By Anthony Gorges
JC Post
Junction City hosted Atchison on Friday night for the home openers for JCHS. The Lady Jays won big, but the Blue Jays lost in a down-to-the-wire game.
Girls recap – Junction City 63, Atchison 43
Similar to their season-opening game on Tuesday night, the Lady Jays came ready to play in the opening quarter. The game was all about sophomore #10, Aniyah Henry-Rivers. She started the game off with 11 points in the first quarter and finished with a game high, 22 points. The highlight of the quarter, though, came at the end of it. Freshman Alexis Douglas banked in a half-court shot to give the Lady Jays a 16-9 lead after one.
Both teams tightened up with defense in the second quarter; not much scoring occurred, and JC led 22-13 at the half.
Third-quarter action featured an offensive explosion by the JCHS girls. The Lady Jays began the quarter on an 8-3 run, which forced a quick timeout by the Atchison Phoenix. The timeout only fueled the Lady Jays even more. They expanded their lead to 46-23 at the end of the third quarter, and at that time, it was the biggest lead of the game.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Jays continued to score, and a three-pointer by sophomore Laniyah Warmack gave the girls their largest lead of the game at 61-36. Junction City won by 20, beating the Phoenix 63-43. It is the first win for the Lady Jays this season and the first win for Coach Tim Testa in his second stint as head coach.
The JCHS girls go to 1-1 on the season and are in action next Friday night hosting Hays at Blue Jay Event Center.
On our KJCK radio broadcast, we named Aniyah Henry-Rivers the Blu Restaurant Player of the Game. (For being our Blu Restaurant Player of the Game, Aniyah Henry-Rivers receives a free meal coupon of up to $20 to Blu Restaurant in Junction City.)
Boys recap – Atchison 67, Junction City 59
The Atchison Phoenix jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, which forced a quick JC timeout. The Blue Jays quickly responded with an 11-2 run to take a 13-9 lead with a minute to go in the first quarter. Both teams then traded buckets, and the Phoenix hit a corner three to tie the game at 15 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, shots began to fall for both sides. It was a back-and-forth battle throughout. Similar to the first quarter, Junction City’s Khaliel Walker hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 31 at the half.
In the third quarter, the defenses buckled in for most of the period. Similar to the first two quarters, the third quarter also ended with a three-point make, this one by Atchison’s Javontae Kelley. The Phoenix led 48-44 after three.
To begin the fourth, JC cut the deficit to three at 52-49, but then freshman Trey’Von Gillum hit back-to-back threes, and Atchison led by nine with three minutes to go. The Phoenix held on to win 67-59. Atchison was led by head coach Pat Battle, who previously coached at Junction City from 2011-2016.
Throughout the game, it was the battle of the big guys on the inside. Junction City’s Brody Boeckman (6’7”), Jackson Hollie (6’6”), and Trevon Briley (6’3”) held their own against Atchison’s 6’7” Javontae Kelley and 6’4” Yogi Purdy.
Ultimately, though, it was the guards who pulled through for Atchison in the second half. Freshman Trey’Von Gillum had a game-high 22 points in his first high school game.
On our KJCK radio broadcast, we named Khaliel Walker the Blu Restaurant Player of the Game. (For being our Blu Restaurant Player of the Game, Walker receives a free meal coupon of up to $20 to Blu Restaurant in Junction City.)
Walker finished with 14 points and four made three-pointers. Lovell Autry led the team with 18 points, and Boeckman added 15 points.
The Blue Jays fall to 1-1 on the season and will now host Hays next Friday at Blue Jay Event Center.