The Blue Jays lost the game to Manhattan High 31-61 on February 21st. The Junction City Blue Jays took on the Manhattan Indians in the season finale of their rivalry game for the year.

The first quarter was filled with many turnovers, which ultimately set the tone for the game. The score at the end of the first quarter was Blue Jays . The most exciting play of the quarter and the game was a fast break steal by AJ Dickerson, who almost posterized the Manhattan player with a vicious dunk but the player fouled his elbow and he could not finish the dunk.

Going into halftime the Blue Jays were down 16-31. The turnovers continued to hurt both teams in their respective field, but the shots couldn’t fall down for the Jays. The Blue Jays had a size advantage in the paint and out rebounded the Indians.

“He was basically just encouraging us to keep fighting and continuing to compete like we always do.” Senior Elijah Gardner said. After the great halftime performance from the J-Steppers, the Blue Jays came back pumped up and went on a small run to open the second half. The Blue Jays had momentum but shortly lost it and fell back into a slump. Manhattan continued to hit their shots and build their lead where it was too far away to grasp for the Jays.

The fourth quarter wasn’t much competition, the only bright spot about the final quarter was the bench players got some good minutes and got to showcase what the incoming talent is looking like. “Remain positive, keep their heads up and that we have a couple more opportunities to improve and get better.” Coach Schmitt said

The Blue Jays look to finish the season on a strong note and go out with a win for the seniors. The next game is the Blue Jays against Washburn Rural at home. It’s senior night and the seniors are looking to end on high note.