Looking to reach the school’s first state championship game since 1980 the Perry Lecompton boys basketball team knew they would have to get off to a fast start to have a chance against 2-seed Beloit, a team that had already had won 22 games.

Unfortunately for the Kaws it was the Trojans who started fast and never looked back, as Friday night Beloit moved on to the Class 3A State Championship game with a 62-53 win.

The Kaws couldn’t get anything going offensively early on, as Beloit held Perry to just 3-of-12 shooting in the first quarter to take an 18-8 lead after one.

Perry played much better in the second quarter and hung right with the Trojans, but Beloit still took a 28-18 lead into halftime.

Just like the second quarter the Kaws played the second half right with the Trojans, but the closest the Kaws could get in the second half was 7 points as the slow start proved to be the difference.

The Kaws were led in scoring by Connor Anderson who continued his strong state tournament with 27 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks to go along with a steal.

Perry Lecompton will now play for third place on Saturday, as the Kaws will match up with 8-seed Hays-TMP at 2:00 pm with live coverage on 103.9 KNZA.

Perry Lecompton: Connor Anderson – 27, Colton Mallonee – 10, Colton Ketron – 5, Conner Morgison – 5, Parker Stone – 4, Blake Farmer – 2.