There's a reason why Indiana University is interested in O.G. Anunoby.
The Jefferson City senior scored a game-high 16 points and hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lead the Jays to a 29-26 win against Blair Oaks in a three-period game as part of Friday's Jamboree at Helias.
Blair Oaks took a 26-23 lead after Kory Franks hit a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left, but Anunoby, who signed a letter intent Wednesday to play for the Hoosiers, responded with trey to tie it with 27 seconds remaining.
The Falcons were called for a five-second violation with 15 seconds remaining, and Anunoby used a spinning, step-back fadeaway from behind the arc that went in as the buzzer sounded.
"That was a good shot, no doubt," Jefferson City head coach Blair Thompson said. "He's talented. I think we all know that and almost expect it to happen at this point. We're lucky we get to see that kind of stuff out of him on a daily basis."
Anunoby was the only player to score in double figures for the Jays, who were 12-of-28 (43 percent) from the field and 2-of-7 (28 percent) from the free-throw line against the Falcons.
Blair Oaks led 12-8 after the first quarter and took a 19-16 lead into the break before the Jays could mount a comeback in the final period.
Jefferson City, which finished 15-12 last season after suffering a 65-61 loss to Hickman in the Class 5 District 9 title game, didn't stop its winning ways there.
Anunoby finished with nine points - including two fast-break dunks - as the Jays cruised to 42-21 win against Fatima in their second game of the night.
A first-team all-state pick last season, Anunoby saw limited playing time against the Comets.
"When he's not on the floor, it takes away a safety net for the other guys," Thompson said. "I thought that was beneficial for us as well - just to have those guys try to execute without him on the floor."
Grant Wood had 11 points in Game 2 to lead the Jays.
"These things are good to get an early look of where you really are - from a conditioning standpoint, from a personnel standpoint, and just an overall ability to execute the things you've been working on," Thompson said. "We showed flashes of doing some things, but we consistently didn't put it all together tonight, nor did we expect to."