Wayne used a game-ending 17-0 run to break a 39-39 tie and win the C1-7 subdistrict title Thursday with a 56-39 win over West Point-Beemer in action Thursday at Norfolk High School.
The win was the third of the season for the 19-7 Blue Devils over West Point-Beemer and sent Wayne to Monday’s district final against the winner of Saturday’s rescheduled C1-8 subdistrict final between Broken Bow and O’Neill.
The game was close throughout, with neither team leading by more than six points through the first three quarters.
Wayne built an 11-5 lead in the first period, led by Payten Gamble, who hit a 3-pointer and scored seven points in the opening frame. The Blue Devils led 13-9 after one period after Mason Lee tipped in a pass as the buzzer sounded.
Wayne led 15-11 in the second when the Blue Devils struggled from the field, allowing the Cadets to go on an 8-0 run to take a 19-15 lead. That lead was short-lived, however, as Tyler Gilliland and Gamble each scored baskets to draw Wayne even at 19-19, and a three-point play by Lee made it 22-21 at intermission.
West Point jumped out to a 30-27 lead midway through the third when Gamble hit a pair of 3-pointers, but the Cadets came back and got a late 3-pointer to tie the game at 35-35 going to the fourth.
The two teams traded baskets early in the fourth, but Grayson McBride hit the first of four fourth-quarter baskets to break a 39-39 tie. He added a 3-pointer to make it 44-39 and the Blue Devils continue to pull away. A Lee dunk highlighted the 17-0 run to end the game, giving the Blue Devils the win.
Gamble scored a game-high 20 points, Lee added 15 points, three blocks and five steals, and McBride finished with 11 points. Jack Evetovich scored four points and had five assists, and Gilliland, Shea Sweetland and Will Anderson had two points apiece.
