The Wichita East Blue Aces ( 17-4 )defeated the Junction City Lady Jays 61-28 in the first round of their Class 6A Substate Basketball Tournament Tuesday night in Wichita.

The loss ends the season for Junction City ( 5-16 ) . Wichita East will advance to the substate championship game Friday night against Washburn Rural.

Coach Derek Petty of Junction City saw his team stay with the Blue Aces early in the game. But then Wichita East moved out to a 25-13 lead at halftime and never trailed the rest of the way. “I thought we attacked the basket and got fouls, but then we missed free throws and then after that we started settling for jump shots.”

Petty added, “We have to attack the basket and take jump shots when we’re open when they’re collapsing to help on the drives. That’s part of the process of us learning basketball, not just being on the floor playing, knowing the game.”

The Blue Jay boys play in the substate tournament Wednesday night at Derby. You can hear that game on 1420 KJCK, The Talk of JC. Tipoff is scheduled at 7 p.m.