By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
Junction City's boys basketball team entered Wednesday's Centennial League makeup game knowing that Hayden was without two starters and still looking for its first win of 2024.
Hayden junior Cooper Grace (21) goes up for a shot in Wednesday's 70-45 Centennial League loss to Junction City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Hayden coach Trey Brown talks to his Wildcats during a timeout in Wednesday's 70-45 loss to Junction City. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
So, with that in mind, coach Nick Perez's game plan was for the Blue Jays to take it to the host Wildcats early and take control.
No. 9-ranked (Class 6A) Junction City did exactly that, going wire to wire for a 70-45 win at the Bueltel Activity Center.
"The goal was to come in and get after them right away and I thought we did that,'' Perez said. "Trey (Brown) does a good job of getting those guys to play really hard. They play hard and what we talked about all week was just matching their intensity and we did that.
"We ran some stuff and we got some shots, Jackson (Austin) got going, and then we got downhill and made some layups.''
Junction City, which improved to 10-2 overall and 2-1 in the league, jumped out to an 8-2 lead as Austin, a junior, scored all of the Blue Jays' first eight points.
The Blue Jays went on to open up a 24-16 first-quarter lead and used a 20-10 second quarter to take a commanding 44-26 advantage at the half.
Junction City followed that up with an 18-6 third quarter to take a 62-32 lead, forcing a running clock the rest of the way.
Junior Larkin Turner led the Blue Jays with a game-high 18 points while Austin added 15 points and senior Stewart Mitchell 12.
"I thought at times we looked really good and then at times defensively we kind of looked like we got a little bit lazy but I'm just proud of the minutes we got from our bench guys,'' Perez said.
Nine different players scored for Hayden (4-8, 0-4), led by freshman Mason Becker with eight points.
Hayden, which played without injured seniors Jacob Padilla and Dom Ridley, dropped its seventh straight games.
The Wildcats will go on the road Friday for a non-league game against city rival Shawnee Heights.
JUNCTION CITY 70, HAYDEN 45
Junction City 24 20 18 8 -- 70
Hayden 16 10 6 13 -- 45
Junction City (10-2, 2-1) -- Austin 6 0-0 15, Autry 1 0-2 2, J. Williams 3 1-2 7, Ruffin 1 1-2 4, Turner 9 0-0 18, Mitchell 3 4-4 12, Handy 3 0-1 8, Cruz 0 2-2 2, Mears 0 0-0 0, Battiste 0 0-0 0, M. Williams1 0-0 2, Albanese 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 8-13 70.
Hayden (4-8, 0-4)-- Colboch 2 0-0 6, Charvat 2 0-0 4, Becker 2 3-4 8, Hanika 2 2-2 6, Kuta 3 0-0 6, Banks 0 0-0 0, Deister 2 2-2 6, Mitchell 0 3-8 3, Grace 0 3-6 3, Kidd 1 0-0 3. Totals 14 13-22 45.
3-point goals -- Junction City 8 (Austin 3, Mitchell 2, Handy 2, Ruffin), Hayden 4 (Colboch 2, Becker, Kidd). Total fouls -- Junciton City 14, Hayden 22. Fouled out -- none. Technical foul -- Hanika.
