Eudora sophomore Mitchell Ballock knocks the ball away from Tonganoxie senior Brady Swedo (24) during the first round of the Tonganoxie Invitational Tuesday in Tonganoxie.

Tonganoxie ? Eudora High’s boys basketball team wasn’t always clicking against Tonganoxie in the first round of the Tonganoxie Invitational on Tuesday night.

But Eudora made enough plays to pull away in the second half for a 62-44 victory at Tonganoxie.

The Cardinals (8-2) used a 16-6 run to close the third quarter with five points from senior Zhade Wray, who scored 12 points to go along with three blocks. They shot 69 percent (9-for-13) in the period, with points on six of their last seven possessions.

“It was a weird game,” EHS coach Kyle Deterding said. “Sometimes those tournament games, it’s hard for us to get into a flow for one reason or another. It was just one of those games.”

Eudora’s star sophomore Mitchell Ballock struggled to find his shot, shooting 3-for-14 from the field, but found a way to make an impact in all of the other phases of the game. He dished a game-high four assists, snagged five steals and had five rebounds.

“You’re going to miss shots all the time,” Ballock said. “You’re going to have off nights. But you have to keep locking in on the defensive end and keep contributing to the team in the best way possible.”

Ballock, who picked up a scholarship offer from the University of Oklahoma after making a visit to the school last weekend, played aggressive man-to-man defense on the perimeter and takes a lot of pride in his passing. When the 6-foot-5 combo guard found himself surrounded by double teams, he punished the defense by finding open teammates.

“If I get in the paint, I’m always looking to find an open guy,” said Ballock, who also has offers from Kansas University, Creighton, Iowa State and Kansas State. “I mean, if you can score, obviously the option is always there to score. But I like to get the other guys going and get them involved because that gets them going and then we play better team defense on the other end.”

The Cardinals had several players pick up the scoring on Tuesday. Junior guard Austin Downing had 12 points and two assists, junior guard Grant Elston scored seven points and had five rebounds, and senior forward Laken Straub scored eight points on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting.

The Chieftains (1-8) were led by senior Jared Sommers, who scored 14 points, and senior Brady Swedo, who added 11 points. Senior Carl Hecht and Swedo both had a team-high seven rebounds apeice.

But Tonganoxie had problems against Eudora’s full-court press, committing 14 turnovers, and shooting just 32 percent (17-for-53) throughout the game.

“We have to take care of the basketball,” THS coach Shawn Phillips said.

Eudora will face Holton in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday, and Tonganoxie will play Metro Academy at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

EUDORA (62)

Grant Elston 3-4 0-0 7, Zhade Wray 5-7 2-4 12, Austin Downing 5-9 2-2 12, Mitchell Ballock 3-14 4-4 10, Laken Straub 3-3 2-2 8, Avery Rouser 2-5 0-0 4, Griffin Katzenmeier 0-0 0-0 0, Brian Tolefree 1-3 1-2 3, Jomain Rouser 1-5 0-2 2, Mason Fawcett 2-7 0-0 4, Hayden Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-57 11-16 62.

TONGANOXIE (44)

Jared Sommers 6-12 1-2 14, Carl Hecht 1-11 0-0 2, Greg DeVeau 3-4 0-0 6, Bradey Swedo 4-15 2-2 11, Devan Smith 2-3 1-2 6, Keaton Rickard 0-0 0-0 0, Dylan Staatz 0-2 0-2 0, Kyle Burge 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Novotney 0-3 0-0 0, Dylan Rinne 1-3 3-4 5. Totals 17-53 7-12 44.

Eudora 17 13 22 10 — 62

Tongie 9 8 13 14 — 44

Three-point field goals: Eudora 1-9 (Elston); Tonganoxie 3-17 (Sommers, Swedo, Smith). Fouled out: Smith. Turnovers: Eudora 10, Tonganoxie 14.