In 2020 and 2021, the Wayne High boys basketball team qualified for state with wins away from home.
This time, they did it on their home floor.
The Blue Devils overcame a slow start and used a solid defensive effort in the second half to pull away with a 54-38 win over O’Neill to claim the C1-6 district title Saturday at Wayne High School.
The Blue Devils got off to a slow start as O’Neill came in with hopes of avenging two earlier losses to the Blue Devils, both at Wayne High School.
O’Neill got out to a 6-2 lead early in the contest and led 14-10 early in the second on a basket by Drew Morrow, but Wayne came back with back-to-back baskets by Daniel Judd and Sedro Agoumba to tie the game at the 6:07 mark of the second quarter.
Carter Junck drilled a 3-pointer from the far corner to give Wayne its first lead at 17-14 with 5:00 to go in the first half, and Tanner Walling added a three later to make it 20-18 at intermission.
Wayne began to assert control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Eagles 16-9 in the pivotal third quarter. Camron Weaselhead punctuated the big quarter for Wayne with an old-fashioned three-point play off a missed shot to make it 36-24 with 1:29 in the third.
Wayne’s defense continued to make things tough for the Eagles in the fourth quarter, and the visiting Eagles couldn’t get any closer than 10 points in the final eight minutes. O’Neill came as close as 44-34 on a 3-pointer by Keaton Wattier with 2:12 to go, but Wayne made five of six free throws over the course of their next three possessions to put the game out of reach.
Walling led three Blue Devils in double figures with 13 points, followed by Judd with 11 and Brandon Bartos with 10. Junck finished with seven points, Agumba has six, Alex Phelps scored four and Weaselhead had three.
Pairings for the Class C-1 state tournament will be announced on Wednesday.
