Junction City picked up a first-round over Wichita South in the first round of the Class 6A Substate Tournament at JCHS Wednesday night. The Blue Jays jumped out to a 24-4 first quarter lead over the Titans but the lead gradually evaporated with South going up by four in the fourth quarter. Then the Blue Jays broke open a 59-59 tie in that final quarter by scoring eight unanswered points and moved on to a 67-62 win.
Blue Jay coach Nick Perez felt his team did a good job defensively in the first quarter. "We were moving around, we were playing with some intensity. And then we just got to a point where we started giving up buckets."
The Blue Jays struggled to make shots in the second and third quarters, but Perez noted that they did make a couple of big shots in the fourth period.
Four Blue Jays scored in double figures including Ismael Fadiga with 16 points, Terrance Tedder with 14, Howard Johnson 13 and Seth Clark with 12 points.
Junction City ( 13-8 ) will play at Wichita Heights ( 19-2 ) in the substate tournament championship game Saturday night in Wichita. Heights defeated Liberal in a first round game 75-23.