Wayne's hopes of a trip to the Class C-1 finals came up short Friday as they Blue Devils suffered a 52-40 defeat to Adams Central in the semifinals at the Nebraksa State Boys Basketball Championships in Lincoln.
Adams Central never trailed as they got off to a 12-5 lead in the first period. A 7-0 run in the second period made it 21-9 and they extended the lead to 26-12 at intermission.
Wayne tried to mount a second-half comeback but were unable to get into any kind of rhythm against the Patriots' 1-3-1 defense. The closest Wayne came was 48-36 on a 3-pointer by Colton Vovos with 2:02 to go in the game.
Wayne, 23-6, was led by Brandon Bartos with 11 points and Daniel Judd with eight. Also scoring were Tanner Walling and Colton Vovos with seven each, Alex Phelps with three and Sedjgro Agoumba and Treyton Blecke with two each.
The Blue Devils will face Omaha Concordia in the third-place game Saturday at 9 a.m. at Lincoln North Star High School.
