Grain Valley wins semifinal game of tournament

by Bill Althaus

Kevin Johnson was more than a bit nervous before Grain Valley's semifinal matchup with his former team, KC East Christian, in the Grain Valley Invitational.

Johnson had a big game, scoring 14 points off the bench, while blocking four shots and grabbing five rebounds as the Eagles defeated the Lions 76-36. The win sets up a Grain Valley vs. Blue Springs South matchup in the 8:30 p.m. Friday championship game in the school's main field house.

"Kevin had a great game," Eagles coach Andy Herbert said after his team improved to 8-6. "You could tell early on that he was a bit nervous. I'm sure he knew all the guys on East because he'd played with them, and I'm sure they weren't that excited to leave the team to play here. But he handled it well and made us proud of his performance."

Johnson, a lifetime resident of Grain Valley played on East's home schooled team for three years, before making the decision to attend school and play basketball in his own back yard.

"It was a tough decision to no longer play with my former team, but I got really serious about basketball and wanted the chance to play some better competition to see if I could get a scholarship," Johnson said.

Ironically, a coach from Central Methodist was waiting to visit with the senior center after the victory.

"I wanted to play well tonight, and it took me a while to play my kind of game," Johnson added. We didn't play well the first half, we heard about it at halftime, and we had a great second half. All I wanted to do was attack and help my team win."

Eagles leading scorer Eli Herbert said that's exactly what his teammate accomplished.

"You could tell he was worried during warmups and then he plays a great game - especially in the second half (scoring 12 of his 14 points). He has been a big part of our success this season. This is the first time he's played with us, but he fit right in and makes an impact when he comes off the bench."

Eli scored 23 points in just three quarters.

"I got a lot of offensive help tonight," said Eli, who was coming off a school-record 44-point performance in a win against Fort Osage. "Our third quarter might have been the best quarter we've played all season."

The Eagles had a 31-20 lead at the half. 

Following a "butt chewing," from Coach Herbert at the half, they scored 34 points coming out of the halftime locker room.

"Coach really gave us a butt chewing - which we deserved," said guard Aaron Barr, who finished with 13 points. "We were like a new team in the third quarter. We hadn't played that well, and Coach let us know that he expected more from us. And it made an impact."

Eli scored 11 third-quarter points, Barr added 11 and Johnson 6.

"We all know we're going to have to play a lot better than we did tonight," Coach Herbert added. "There is going to be a great environment with a lot of fans from Grain Valley and South coming to the game. We're all excited to play Friday night in the championship game."

​Members of the Grain Valley boys basket team, from left, Owen Hames, Tucker Hughes, Evan Colson, Kevin Johnson and Bennett Omstead go after a rebound in the Eagles' 76-36 semifinal win over KC East Christian in a semifinal game of the Grain Valley Invitational. The Eagles and Blue Springs South Jaguars will play in the title game at 8:30 p.m. Friday in the high school's main field house. Photo credit: Bill Althaus

Grain Valley coach Andy Herbert talks with his Eagles during a time out of Thursday night's 76-36 victory over KC East Christian in a semifinal game at the Grain Valley Invitational. In what promises to be a marquee matchup Grain Valley will play Blue Springs South in the 8:30 p.m. championship game Friday night. Photo credit: Bill Althaus