Jays 'Find a Way'

The opening of conference play could not have been more exciting as the Jays hosted the Lee's Summit North Broncos at Cokely Fieldhouse. With LSN scoring the first 8 points of the game it looked like the Jays could be in for a long night. However, they bounced back strong and actually had a 3 point lead after the 1st quarter thanks in part to Jordan Lewis' 9 points. It was back and forth during the 2nd but LHS held on to a 1 point lead at halftime. Isaiah Norfleet hit a layup at the buzzer giving the Jays the slight edge. During the 2nd half the consistent BlueJays played better on both ends of the floor pushing their lead to 9 points. But the Broncos wouldn't go away for long. They stepped up the defensive pressure and forced the Jays to take some quick shots. This helped them regain the lead in the 4th quarter. However, Denton Koon saved his best basketball for the end and along with Brandon Chapman taking a big charge late in the game, the BlueJays prevailed 66-63. Lewis led the team in scoring with 26, followed by Koon with 16, and Norfleet with 12. "I'm satisfied with the win tonight primarily because we showed some heart and effort this evening. This is not the easiest way to begin a season with 3 games at Kickapoo and one day of practice before an extremely tough conference opponent but I need to acknowledge the determination of our players and credit them for a nice performance," remarked Coach Stirtz. Next up for the Jays is Lee's Summit on Tuesday, Dec. 14th.