By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After giving up 80 points and suffering a 17-point loss in its season-opener against Junction City, Seaman's boys basketball team played much better against the Blue Jays the second time around.
But that is likely to be of little consolation to the Vikings after suffering a heartbreaking 66-64 overtime Centennial League loss Tuesday night at Seaman.
Seaman, which fell to 7-6 overall and 6-4 in the league, held a slight lead in the final seconds in both regulation and overtime, but Junction City senior standout Howard Johnson came through for the Blue Jays in both instances, sending the game to overtime with a bucket with 11 seconds remaining and draining a game-winning 3-pointer with just over six seconds left in the OT.
"We had some opportunities that unfortunately we didn't take advantage of,'' Seaman coach Craig Cox said. "Our shot selection wasn't real good in the first half and I thought we made a pretty good adjustment and started attacking more and that helped us.''
Seaman senior Dreighton Griess came off the bench to score 19 points in Tuesday's 66-64 overtime loss to Junction City Tuesday night. [File photo/TSN]
Tuesday's game was tight throughout, with Seaman's biggest lead five points while Junction City's biggest advantage was a brief seven-point lead in the third quarter.
The game included nine ties and 11 lead changes, with the final two coming over the final 40 seconds in OT.
Junction City (10-3, 7-2) led 13-11 after the first quarter and 26-25 at the half before the game was tied 40-all at the end of the third quarter and 58-all at the end of regulation after Seaman missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw situation with 4.2 seconds left.
Senior Dreighton Griess led Seaman with 19 points while seniors Mateo Human and Ty Henry added 16 and 12 points for the Vikings.
"Dreighton Griess came off the bench and gave us a big boost with his offense and defense,'' Cox said. "Our effort in the second half is what you need to be competitive against the top teams in the league.''
Senior Terrance Tedder scored a game-high 21 points for Junction City, ranked No. 10 in Class 6A by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association, while Johnson added 16 points, with 12 coming in the fourth quarter and overtime..
Seaman will be back at home Friday to host Highland Park in a Centennial League contest.
JUNCTION CITY BOYS 66, SEAMAN 64 (OT)
Junction City 13 13 14 18 8 -- 66
Seaman 11 14 15 18 6 -- 64
Junction City (10-3, 7-2) – Tedder 7-12 6-8 21, Clark 3-9 0-1 8, Johnson 4-6 7-8 16, Fadiga 1-2 0-0 2, Butler-Lawson 4-8 0-1 8, Sellers 1-2 0-0 2, Baker 2-4 0-0 6, Rowell 1-1 1-2 3, Adguzi-Addo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-44 14-20 66.
Seaman (7-6, 6-4) -- Hyman 7-12 2-4 16, Henry 6-10 0-0 12, Bonner 3-8 0-0 7, Wilhelm 2-6 0-0 4, Davis 3-6 0-0 6, Griess 7-15 4-4 19. Totals 28-57 6-8 64.
3-point goals – Junction City 6 (Clark 2, Baker 2, Tedder, Johnson), Seaman 2 (Bonner, Griess). Total fouls – Junction City 13, Seaman 19. Fouled out – none.
