CAMDENTON, Mo. - Kamari Balton's jumper with less than two seconds remaining in the game Thursday night lifted the Jefferson City Jays to a 39-37 win against the Waynesville Tigers in the Class 5 District 10 title game.
With the win, the Jays (18-8) advance to Wednesday night's sectional game against Blue Springs South (25-2) at State Fair Community College in Sedalia. Game time is 6 p.m.
Blue Springs South defeated Rock Bridge 70-62 to win the District 9 title Thursday.
Consecutive 3-pointers by O.G. Anunoby and Jacob Gourley gave Jefferson City a 31-30 lead with 6:19 remaining in the contest. But Waynesville answered with a 7-1 run to take a five-point lead midway through the quarter.
But the Tigers wouldn't score the rest of the game to set up Balton's heroics. Balton scored the final seven points of the game for the Jays, his only points of the contest.
The Jays led 11-9 after one quarter before the Tigers came back to take a 20-13 lead into intermission. Jefferson City outscored Waynesville 12-8 in the third quarter and trailed 28-25 heading into the final period.
Anunoby finished with 14 points to lead Jefferson City, while Seth Stegeman hit three 3-pointers for nine points.
Juwan Morgan totaled a game-high 16 points for Waynesville (19-7), ranked No. 10 in Class 5.
In the girls district title game Thursday night, fourth-seeded Camdenton defeated third-seeded Waynesville 55-46.