Junction City had an opportunity to win at the end of the ballgame, but a three point shot by Jonathan Wilds came up short. Manhattan  won 35-32  in boys basketball victory over the Blue Jays at the Shenk Gym.

The Blue Jays had the ball in the closing seconds. Wilds took the shot from just outside the top of the key. Manhattan then got the ball out of bounds with 1.6 seconds remaining, Junction City fouled, and Gabe Awbrey sank two free throws with six-tenth of a second remaining to give the Indians the final winning margin of three points.

Afterwards Blue Jay coach Pat Battle was pleased with the way his team defended in the game. “That’s a team that has got a lot of offensive weapons. To hold them to 35 points is a pretty good job for us defensively.”  Battle added the biggest issue for the Blue Jays involved communication breakdowns on offense.

Junction City led the ballgame 17-14 at halftime, but the Blue Jays were outscored by the Indians 12-2 in the third quarter.

Danny Thornton led Junction City with 13 points and Wilds had nine. Both hit three of their three-point shots in the game.

Alex Stitt had 12 points for Manhattan, including two big three-point baskets late in the third quarter.

Manhattan is 6-2 while Junction City fell to 4-4.