Salina ? In the beginning, it looked like expectations might be defied.

Eudora High’s Mitchell Ballock, standing 6-foot-5, lined up for the tip against Bishop Miege’s Bol Bol, a 6-11 standout and son of former NBA player Manute Bol. Ballock won the tip, and a badly outsized Eudora High won the first half.

Then the second half came, and Bol Bol became double trouble for Eudora — scoring from both inside and out — and Miege defeated the Cardinals, 55-49, in the opening round of the 4-A Division I state tournament Thursday.

“They are really, really good,” Eudora coach Kyle Deterding said of Bishop Miege, which brought a 16-game win streak into the game. “We played about as well as we can play, if you take shots out of the game.

“Our kids battled their tails off. There was just a little stretch there that (Bishop Miege) won.”

That stretch was sparked by Bol, who as a sophomore is one of the highest-rated recruits in the country for the class of 2018. At the 6:50 mark in the third quarter, Bol drove the basket, drew the foul, finished with an underhanded scoop and knocked down a free throw to tie the score at 25. Then Bol cleaned up an offensive rebound with a two-handed dunk to give Bishop Miege the lead. At the 5:01 mark, Bol drained a three, and on the defensive end blocked a shot that led to a fast break that put Bishop Miege up 32-29.

Eudora stayed close the rest of the way but never overtook Bishop Miege. Ballock, a junior who has committed to play at Creighton, was more than enough for the Cardinals in the first half. Ballock had 14 points and seven rebounds in the first half, as Eudora led 22-20 at the break.

Eudora senior Austin Downing pulled the Cardinals within three with a driving bucket and a made free throw with 51 seconds left in the game. But Bishop Miege kept Eudora in foul trouble the entire second half and sealed the game at the free-throw line in the last minute.

Eudora finished its season at 16-7 and made its second trip to the state tournament in the last three seasons.

“There are a lot of red eyes in there,” Deterding said of the Cardinals locker room. “But we told them they have nothing to hang their heads about. We played so hard.”

Ballock led all scorers with 18 points. Eudora, though, struggled shooting the ball at times, hitting only 20 percent from three and 57 percent from the free-throw line.

Bol and freshman Jeremiah Robinson-Earl — son of former Kansas University player Lester Earl — each scored 14 points for Bishop Miege, and Robinson-Earl also grabbed 10 rebounds.

EUDORA (49)

Grant Elston 0-3 0-0 0, Brian Tolefree 3-8 0-0 9, Austin Downing 4-14 2-6 10, Mitchell Ballock 6-13 6-7 18, Mason Fawcett 1-1 0-0 2, Avery Rouser 3-4 0-1 6, Jomain Rouser 1-1 0-0 2, Spencer Howe 0-0 0-0 0, Benjamin VanDiest 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Vaughn 0-0 0-0 0, David Hornberger 1-1 0-0 2, Jacob Pearson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-46 8-14 49.

BISHOP MIEGE (55)

Semaj Ray 2-9 1-2 7, Landry Weber 0-1 5-7 5, Bol Bol 5-9 1-1 14, Francesco Badocchi 3-5 7-8 13, Jeremiah Robinson 6-11 2-3 14, Joseph Gleason 0-0 0-0 0, Dawson Downing 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 16-38 18-23 55.

Eudora 14 8 12 15 — 49

Bishop Miege 10 10 19 16 — 55

Three point goals: Eudora 3-15 (Tolefree 3-6); Miege 5-10 (Bol 3-4 Ray 2-5). Fouled out: Badocchi. Turnovers: Eudora 4, Miege 6.