Season opening basketball took over the Wayne High girls and boys teams during back-to-back nights.
Wayne High visited Battle Creek last Friday and played in their home opener the following night against Ponca.
During girls action, Wayne suffered a 58-25 loss at Battle Creek but won 40-32 over Ponca. WHS begins their season at 1-1.
In the loss against Battle Creek, the Bravettes jumped ahead 21-12 in the first quarter followed by a 10-1 advantage in the second. Battle Creek led 31-13 at the break. The Bravettes also outscored Wayne, 13-4 in the third and 14-8 in the fourth to win 58-25.
Wayne leaders were junior Haley Kramer with eight points, sophomore Lily Gubbels added five points as sophomores Addison Frank and Mallory Redden (three steals) both scored four points.
Junior Claire Lutter finished with two points, six rebounds and two blocks as juniors Elle Powicki and Reagan McGuire (two assists) both had one point.
During the victory over Ponca (quarter scoring not available), the Wayne girls were led by Kramer with 23 points to go along with seven steals and two assists.
Redden followed with four points as three-point scoring came from Claire Lutter (six rebounds) and freshman Audrey Lutter; Reagan McGuire tallied two points as Powicki had one point.
Ponca was led in scoring by Elsie Keller with 11 points.
Moving into Blue Devil boys competition, Wayne won 60-52 at Battle Creek and 53-36 vs. Ponca. Wayne High is 2-0 to start the year.
In the win over Battle Creek, the host Braves held a 15-13 lead after the first quarter followed by Wayne using a 15-8 advantage in the second to go up 28-23 at the break. The Blue Devils extended their lead with a 19-16 third quarter as both teams scored 13 points in the fourth. Final favored Wayne High winning 60-52.
The Blue Devils were led by junior Jace Jorgensen with 16 points, senior Colson Nelsen followed with 14 points and three assists, senior Gavin Redden added 13 points and two steals as senior Kaden Keller tallied 10 points and seven rebounds.
Other scoring came from sophomore Chase Nelson with three points as junior Brodey Munter and sophomore Jaxson Kneifl both scored two points.
During the victory against Ponca, Wayne High took the early lead of 17-11 after the first quarter and then used a low-scoring second quarter of 9-4 to go up 26-15 at the break. Wayne then pulled away in the second half thanks to a 15-12 third quarter and 12-9 fourth. Final favored Wayne High winning 53-36.
Colson Nelsen went off for 22 points and two assists while Jorgensen followed with 12 points.
Other scoring came from Kneifl with nine points, Redden added six points and three steals as Keller finished with four points and six rebounds.
Ponca was led in scoring by Jace Wahls with 11 points followed by Zain Stark with 10 points.
