The Junction City Lady Jay soccer team fell to Hays on Monday by the score of 7-0.
The Lady Jays host Emporia Friday night.
Category: Sports
Dedric Lawson entering the NBA Draft
Kansas forward Dedric Lawson will skip his senior year and enter the NBA draft, the latest move in what should be a significant overhaul of the Jayhawks’ roster for next season.
Lawson transferred from Memphis and sat out last season, then led the Big 12 with 19.4 points and 10.3 rebounds this season. He was voted All-Big 12 and third-team All-American while finishing No. 2 nationally and third in school history with 22 double-doubles.
“Dedric had such a great year. There are not very many players who have played at Kansas or players that I have coached that average 19 points and 10-plus rebounds,” coach Bill Self said. “I feel like it is in his best interest to use this year as a springboard into his professional future.”
Most draft experts believe Lawson is a second-round talent.
His brother, K.J. Lawson, and backup guard Charlie Moore already have announced plans to transfer. Lagerald Vick is gone and center Udoka Azubuike and shooting guard Quentin Grimes are also considering the draft, though most draft experts believe both could use more time in college.
Azubuike, one of the best back-to-the-basket big men in the country, sustained a season-ending hand injury. Grimes showed flashes of potential but was plagued by inconsistency as a freshman.
Mariners cruise by Royals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Edwin Encarnacion homered twice during an eight-run sixth inning, two of five homers for the hot-hitting Seattle Mariners during a 13-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
The Mariners have scored five or more runs in 11 of their first 12 games and have 32 homers in that span, the most ever by a team a dozen games into the season. The St. Louis Cardinals had 31 in 2000, according to STATS. Encarnacion is the first Mariner to homer twice in an inning since Bret Boone and Mike Cameron in 2002.
Virginia wins the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament
Virginia has won the first men’s basketball championship in school history, getting a career-high 27 points from De’Andre Hunter and clutch play from Kyle Guy to beat Texas Tech 85-77 in overtime.
The first No. 1 seed out a year ago is the last one standing this year.
Hunter drained a 3-pointer with 12.9 seconds left to force the first overtime since 2008, when Mario Chalmers’ miracle helped Kansas top Memphis in San Antonio. The big forward continued to make plays in the extra session, including another 3 during an 11-0 run that put the game away.
Go ahead, Virginia fans: Time to yell “Wahoo!”
Guy finished with 24 points and Ty Jerome had 16 for the Cavaliers, who like the Red Raiders were appearing in the title game for the first time. Braxton Key added six points and 10 boards.
Brandone Francis had 17 points to lead five players in double-figures scoring for Texas Tech. Jarrett Culver and Davide Moretti scored 15 apiece and Kyler Edwards had 12.
The teams matched a championship game record with 21 combined 3-pointers.
— Dave Skretta reporting from Minneapolis.
Lady Jays 1st and Blue Jays 2nd in JCHS Invitational track meet
The Al Simpler Stadium was the site Monday for the four-team Junction City High School Invitational track meet.
Monday was a makeup from a date last month when the meet was postponed due to cold weather. The invitational had initially been scheduled to include eight schools.
In the girls competition The Junction City Lady Jays finished first with 88 points while Manhattan had 84, and in the boys team scoring Manhattan finished with 106 and Junction City 83 points. Salina Central and Great Bend teams also participated in the meet.
In the individual competition for Junction City, Kiana Newman won the 200 meters and the 100 hurdles while Ethan Alcorn finished first and Alex DeGuzman second in the triple jump.
Lady Jays sweep Shawnee Mission West
The Junction City Lady Jays rallied from a 3-0 1st inning deficit to defeat Shawnee Mission West 13-3 in five innings in the first game of a doubleheader at Cleary Field on Monday. In game two the Lady Jays prevailed with a victory in three innings.
The wins were the first of the season for the Lady Jays, who are now 2-4.
Blue Jay tennis report
JCHS Tennis coach Matt Micheel said the Blue Jay Tennis Team traveled to Topeka on Saturday for a varsity tennis tournament.
The Blue Jay singles players both finished 2nd place on the day. Aaron Reutzel went 2-2 on the day to finish runner up in the top flight of singles and Mark Virtudazo went 2-1 on the day to finish in second place in the #3 singles bracket.
In doubles, Jace Engle and Trenton Reynolds teamed up to finish 5th in the second flight of doubles going 2-1 on the day.
Two other doubles teams competed for the Blue Jays and finished in 6th place. Those teams were Jace Goheen and Calen Boller in the top flight and Nate Green and Alex Seelye in the 2nd flight of doubles.
The Blue Jays next travel to Manhattan on Tuesday for the Manhattan Varsity Tennis Quad. Matches will start at 3 pm.
Tigers top Royals 3-1
DETROIT (AP) — Tyson Ross finally pitched at Comerica Park — and certainly enjoyed his new surroundings.
Ross pitched seven impressive innings, and the Detroit Tigers extended their winning streak to five with a 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
Ross signed with the Tigers in the offseason, and Comerica was the last current ballpark he hadn’t pitched in. The 31-year-old right-hander allowed a run and five hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.
“It feels good,” he said. “Beautiful mound out there. It was nice to be out there for the first time and have such great defense behind me.”
Rookie outfielder Christin Stewart, whose grand slam lifted Detroit to a win Saturday, drove in two more runs to help the Tigers complete a three-game sweep of their first home series. Joe Jimenez pitched the eighth for Detroit and Shane Greene finished. Greene has saves in all seven victories this season for the Tigers and has not blown any.
With two outs in the ninth and a man on base, center fielder Niko Goodrum ended the game with a diving catch. Greene became the first pitcher since saves became an official stat in 1969 to earn seven in his team’s first 10 games.
Ross (1-1) and the Detroit relievers got plenty of help from their fielders. Catcher John Hicks threw out both Billy Hamilton and Whit Merrifield trying to steal.
Brad Keller (1-1) allowed three runs in six innings for the Royals, who have dropped six in a row. Because of off days, Keller was starting for the third time in his team’s first eight games.
“Going into the second inning, he was like 45 pitches before we got an out,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “But he got it settled down a little bit, and was able to give us a good, strong six in that situation. I thought he threw the ball extremely well, too.”
Merrifield and Hamilton had three hits each for Kansas City. Merrifield extended his hitting streak to 28 games dating to last season. He’s just two shy of George Brett’s franchise record.
Merrifield led off the game with a double and eventually scored on Alex Gordon’s one-out groundout. Stewart tied it in the second with an RBI triple, and the Tigers took the lead when he scored on Gordon Beckham’s double play grounder.
Stewart added an RBI single in the sixth.
Blue Jay boys win the Maize Invitational track meet; JCHS girls fourth
The Junction City Blue Jay boys track team in their first meet of the season scored 83 points to capture first place in the Maize Invitational.
For Junction City Juan Tovar finished first in the 800 meters in 2:05.76 and Javontez Brime first in the 300 hurdles in 41.96. Antonio Cooper was second in the shot put with a throw of 52’1.” David Giddens second in the long jump at 21’6.75,” and Alex DeGuzman second in the triple jump at 41’3,” and the 4 x 100 relay team of Aaron Hamilton, Marcello Bussey, Javontez Brime and D.J. Giddens finished second in 43.75.
The Lady Jays scored 70 points to finish fourth, just one half point behind third place Derby.
For Junction City Kiana Newman captured first in the 300 hurdles in 48.45 and first in the 110 hurdles in 15.79, Nyle Blagrove won the high jump, Savannah Adams finished first in the shot put with a throw of 39’9.5,” while second place finishes were turned in by Sherrie Jones in the shot put.
The Junction City High School track teams host their own invitational on Monday beginning at 3:30 p.m.
Stewart’s grand slam lifts Tigers over Royals
DETROIT (AP) — Christin Stewart hit a two-out grand slam in the seventh inning, lifting the Detroit Tigers to a 7-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
The Tigers trailed 4-2 in the seventh but rallied against Kansas City’s struggling bullpen. Kevin McCarthy (0-1) allowed three hits and a hit batter. The only out on his watch came with the score 4-3, when Alex Gordon threw Josh Harrison out at the plate. Detroit eventually loaded the bases with two out, and Stewart hit a drive down the line in right field off Wily Peralta.
It was the second home run of the season for Detroit’s rookie outfielder. Stewart’s other one was also big — a 10th-inning shot at Toronto that provided all the scoring in a 2-0 victory in the season opener.
Whit Merrifield, Jorge Soler and Hunter Dozier all homered for the Royals, but Kansas City’s bullpen — which entered the game with a 7.45 ERA — couldn’t hold on.
Shane Greene pitched a perfect ninth and now has saves in all six Detroit victories this season — without blowing any. The Tigers have won four straight, and the Royals have dropped five in a row.
Tigers starter Matt Moore retired the first eight hitters he faced, but he left the game after three innings with a sprained right knee. Detroit led 2-0 in the sixth when Merrifield hit a solo shot, extending his hitting streak to 27 games. Kansas City then tied it in the seventh on a home run by Soler, and Dozier hit a two-run homer off Victor Alcantara (2-0) later that inning.
Nicholas Castellanos hit an RBI single in the seventh for the Tigers, and Miguel Cabrera followed with a single that could have loaded the bases with nobody out. Instead, third-base coach Dave Clark sent Harrison, who was thrown out at home. One out later, Jeimer Candelario drew a walk that loaded the bases for Stewart.
Merrifield’s hitting streak, which dates to last season, is now tied for the second-longest in Royals’ history. Jose Offerman had a 27-game streak in 1998, and George Brett had a 30-game run in 1980.
Royals first baseman Frank Schwindel, whose error in the second gave Detroit the game’s first run, singled in the seventh for his first career hit.
Cabrera hit an RBI single in the fifth that put the Tigers up 2-0.