By TYLER HENRY
JC Post contributor
When the 6A boys sub-state schedules were released, not many people gave Junction City a chance to make it out of a bracket that included the 1-seed in 19-1 Garden City, but less than a week later, the Bluejays were state bound for just the tenth time since the 1960s.
“We’re very excited to be here and we’re excited for our kids,” JC head coach Nick Perez said. “At the beginning of the year we were nervous about how the season was going to go with only two big returners and a lot of youth and you never know what you’re going to get but they’ve really gelled together.”
It had been an up and down season for a Bluejay team that began the year 4-0, hit a three-game skid, won six of their next eight, and then fell in four of their last five before the postseason, but through it all, Junction City weathered the storm.
“The way we’ve handled adversity throughout the season has been the best thing I’ve seen from these guys,” Perez said. “We’ve gone through good stretches and bad stretches but these kids believe in and trust in each other and they’re playing really unselfish basketball right now.”
A 62-53 win in the regular season finale over Topeka High proved to be just what the doctor ordered, and Junction City responded, ripping off wins of 65-42 over Lawrence Free State and 46-43 in a stunner over Garden City.
“On film you look at Garden City and you wonder why they’re 19-1 but when you get on the floor with them they have some great players,” he said. “We hit a late rut and fell behind on a 9-0 run but our guys hit big free throws, we got some big stops and once Deontae banged a three we felt like it was ours to lose.”
Now, the Bluejays will turn their attention to a much larger task as they enter a bracket with the only other seven remaining teams in Class 6A, and a first-round matchup with the defending champs in Wichita Heights.
It’s little surprise that once again, many around the state of Kansas are doubting Junction City, but with a year of experience going toe to toe with some of the best in the state, the Bluejays have been preparing for a moment just like this.
“Around January 31st people were asking me why we were playing Blue Valley Northwest and I told them we wanted to play people that were going to make us better so if we made a run we weren’t intimidated by who we were playing,” Perez said. “We don’t care who we’re playing, we’re going to guard you as best we can, we’re going to run our offense and we’ll play anybody anywhere.”
The Bluejays have hung their hats on a pair of returning veterans who have shouldered their fair share of the load as others around them got to grips with the speed of the varsity floor.
“Sheldon Butler-Lawson is one of the best defenders I’ve ever coached and he’ll lock up anybody,” he said. “The way he guards separates him from other players and where a lot of high school kids just want to score, his mentality is the opposite. Deontae Baker has had an up and down year but has found his groove down the stretch. Those are the two guys we lean on but we have a lot of kids that give us significant minutes and do a really good job for us.”
With a ton of talent in tow, the Junction City journey will begin on Wednesday when the Bluejays square off with the 1-seed at 6:00.
For continuing coverage of JCHS hoops all throughout the state tournament, stay tuned to the JC Post.