Eight youth basketball teams from the Wayne Basketball Development Association were in action during MIT weekend on March 15 – 16 in Lincoln.
This marked the 43rd annual MIT Basketball Tournament where the Wayne girls brought home four runner-up honors while the Wayne youth basketball boys teams saw one team championship and two runner-up finishes.
A group of Wayne freshmen and sophomore girls made the trip to Lincoln and competed in the sophomore division of the MIT Tournament. Wayne would compete in a four-team round-robin bracket going 2-1 to finish runner-up. In game one on Saturday, Wayne picked up a 32-14 win over Walthill followed by a 27-20 victory against Winnebago. In the championship game on Sunday, a highly competitive back-and-forth contest took place between Wayne and Mount Ayr (Iowa). Mount Ayr was able to tie the game with 0.2 second left in regulation to send the game into overtime where the Raiderettes were able to pull away with a 37-35 overtime victory.
The WBDA junior high girls team competed in a six-team bracket divided into three-team pools and claimed runner-up. In pool play, Wayne recorded wins of 32-21 over the Lincoln Cornhusker Shooting Stars and 25-15 over Palmyra. Wayne would then face Winnebago in the championship game where the tight contest favored Winnebago thanks to a late rally to earn the 39-30 over Wayne.
The Wayne fifth and sixth grade girls were in action during a traditional eight-team bracket and finished in second place. Wayne began with a 24-10 victory over the Lincoln Knights and then recorded a 39-21 win over Summerland in the semifinals. In the championship game, Wayne met the St. Joseph (Missouri) Dynasty and suffered a 22-13 loss.
The WBDA fourth grade girls competed in a four-team round-robin bracket and claimed second. Wayne picked up a 12-5 win over the Lincoln Stars, suffered a 27-19 loss to the Lincoln Jayhawks and bounced back with an 11-7 victory over Winnebago.
The Wayne fifth grade boys competed in a four-team round-robin bracket and went 3-0, picking up their first championship of the season. Wayne had wins of 34-21 over the Lincoln Knights, 31-16 against the Lincoln Monarchs and 31-15 over Norris Black.
The WBDA eighth grade boys competed in a five-team bracket and went 2-2 on the day to place runner-up. Wayne opened with a 62-32 loss to Gering followed by a 47-43 win over the Lincoln Monarchs. On Sunday, Wayne picked up a 54-50 victory against the Lincoln Predators before falling in overtime, 40-39 to Falls City Sacred Heart.
The Wayne seventh grade boys competed in a six team bracket going 2-0 in their pool to finish runner-up. Wayne defeated Lincoln Legends 47-39 and Auburn 43-39 before suffering a 41-36 defeat to Sutton in the crossover championship game from the other pool.
Closing out WBDA Wayne action were the sixth grade boys who had a successful season despite a tough finish at the MIT Tournament. Wayne competed in the top division going 0-3 in three competitive games. Wayne suffered losses of 37-33 to Sutton, 41-31 against Lincoln Hustle and 28-22 with Perkins County.
