The Bluejay boys had a major tussle on their hands on Tuesday, Feb. 14, when they hosted the 14-3 Perry-Lecompton Kaws in a rubber match of Big Seven foes. Sabetha defeated the Kaws on the road in their earlier meeting, only by a three-point margin, but Perry was on an eight-game win streak since then. This latest contest was a battle to the bitter end, with the Jays trailing at the half, but Sabetha stretched a lead that would stick as they took the win at home, 61-54.

“That was an exciting game,” said Head Coach Scott Burger. “We got off to a good start with some hot shooting against their zone. They switched to a man defense and we got into foul trouble, which led to our least amount of points scored in any quarter this year [the second quarter].”

Senior Matthew Garber dropped two treys in the first quarter, and junior Marcus Bauman had a pair of triples and a double to tally 8 points. Senior Davis Rokey and junior Christian McAfee each added a bucket, and the Jays jumped out to an 18-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Kaws are quick and athletic and their man defense gave the Bluejays very little in the way of open shots and forced some turnovers. Perry would hold their hosts to just 4 points in the second period and outscore them 13-4 to take the lead, 24-22, at the intermission.

“We made some adjustments at halftime with emphasis of pounding the ball inside,” Coach Burger said. “Our players executed that plan and we were able to go up 10 starting the fourth.”

McAfee tied the game at 24 in the first minute of the second half, and Rokey gave the Jays the lead once again with a layup. Sabetha went on a 11-2 run to find a little breathing room. Bauman hit his third trey of the game and scored 5 points, McAfee had 7 points, and Rokey dropped a trey and had 5 points in the third quarter. Sabetha led 41-31 with eight minutes to play.

Perry rallied early in the fourth quarter and pulled within 2 points. It was then that Bauman swished his fourth trey of the night and stretch a modest lead. The Bluejays had no free throw attempts in the first half, but they would make 12 of 18 in the second half and 11 of 15 in the fourth quarter alone. Sabetha was outscored 20-23 in the final period but held onto the lead and took the win, 61-54.

“The last quarter, two really good teams with some talented players had a great battle down to the end of the game,” Coach Burger said. “I was really proud of our mental toughness and execution in the last quarter. Perry-Lecompton made a nice charge and we responded to every run they had.”

Bauman finished with 17 points, Rokey had 16, McAfee had 14 and Garber finished with 10 points.