Tonganoxie ? Eudora High entered Saturday’s Tonganoxie Invitational championship game against Atchison without two of its leaders.

The Cardinals left Phil Lobb Gymnasium minus a third consecutive title.

With senior point guard Tyler Cleveland and senior wing Kaleb Niedens out because of illness, a short-handed Eudora team kept with Atchison into the second quarter, but the Redmen used a mix of defenses — including a smothering press — and sent the No. 2-seeded Cardinals to a 64-40 loss.

“We played pretty well and then made two critical mistakes at the end of the half and it was boom, boom,” Eudora coach Scott Stein said.

Atchison (7-5) caused two turnovers just before halftime and converted on the Cardinal miscues.

That gave the No. 5-seeded Redmen a 35-17 lead at the break, after a 9-0 run started the second quarter.

Eudora had an 8-2 run in the third, but Atchison cruised in the fourth for the title.

“I’m glad we were here and played some teams in our class,” Atchison coach George Ross Jr. said.

The past two seasons, Atchison played in the Dodge City Tournament of Champions against Class 6A and 5A teams. In Tonganoxie, the Redmen played the likes of 3A Oskaloosa and fellow 4A programs Lansing and Eudora.

Against Eudora, Atchison shot at nearly 51 percent (27-for-53), while the Cardinals (8-4) struggled with a 33 percent outing (15-for- 8).

Chris Gabriel led Eudora with 11 points and made the all-tournament team, as did Niedens and Cleveland.

Shayne Tyler led Atchison with 15, while MVP Jeff Bowldridge had nine.

In the third-place game, Lansing defeated Tonganoxie 57-49.

Lansing (8-2) also beat the Chieftains (4-7) in overtime, 74-72, on Jan. 10 in Tonganoxie.