Tonganoxie — There was no time for Tonganoxie High guard Jacob Walker to think.
Walker took a crisp pass from teammate Chad Turner and in the same motion released a three-pointer from the top of the key with 1.2 seconds showing on the clock Tuesday night at THS.
Swoosh!
Ball game.
Walker led the Chieftains with 18 points as seventh-seeded Tonganoxie upended No. 2 seed Olathe Christian, 54-51, in the first round of the Tonganoxie Invitational.
"We needed just to get a shot off," Walker said with a grin, right after the junior helped the Chieftains improve to 5-5. "It feels great to win and beat a higher-ranked opponent in your own tournament."
Tonganoxie (5-5) advanced into Friday's 7:30 p.m. semifinal showdown with Eudora (5-5).
With the score tied at 51, Tonganoxie came up with its biggest plays.
The Chieftains got the possession arrow to go their way after Olathe Christian's Matthew Johansen's shot rimmed out.
After a timeout, Tonganoxie wound the remaining 19 seconds off the clock and got the ball to Walker after frenzied passes.
"I was really pleased with the way we kept our composure," Tonganoxie coach David Walker said."But we're going to have to play harder than that on Friday. They're (Eudora) a physical team, but we have some quickness and have quite a bit of depth. It very well could come down to the third quarter."
Eudora 65, Lansing 56
The Cardinals overcame another sluggish third quarter against Lansing to advance to the semifinals.
EHS was outscored 22-11 in the third period.
"I don't know what the heck is going on," Eudora coach Scott Stein said. "I've tried to be loving to these guys and patient, about the only thing I haven't done is bounce off the wall and got on them. I guess it's time to try a different approach."
Fortunately for Stein, his Cardinals outscored the Lions 20-8 in the final quarter for the victory.
Zac Tyler, who matched teammate Tyler Cleveland with 16 points, helped control Lansing's Thomas Davis, who scored a game-high 24 points, down low and also hit some free throws down the stretch.
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