WEST POINT — Sometimes it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
The Wayne High boys basketball team played a lackluster first half, but came out strong in the second half and pulled away with a 53-32 win over West Point-Beemer in the C1-7 subdistrict finals Thursday at West Point-Beemer High School.
The Blue Devils struggled to get anything going offensively in the first half and trailed 21-17 at intermission, but came out a different team in the first few minutes of the third quarter.
Wayne went on a 14-3 run to start the second half, thanks to two Alex Phelps free throws, back-to-back 3-pointers by Tanner Walling, and triples from Brandon Bartos and Carter Junck, to turn that halftime deficit into a 34-24 advantage and never looked back.
West Point-Beemer got the lead down to nine going to the final period, but Wayne used a 7-2 run, capped by an old-fashioned three-point play by Daniel Judd, to make it 42-28 and Wayne (22-3) cruised to the victory.
Judd and Walling both had 16 points to lead the Blue Devils in the win. Phelps put in seven points, Barttos had six, Junck and Camron Weaselhead each had three and Sedjro Agoumba scored two.
Wayne will face O’Neill in the C1-6 district final Saturday at 6 p.m. at Wayne High School. The winner advances to the state tournament in Lincoln March 8-13.
