Winside had a chance to advance to a district boys basketball for the first time in recent memory, but Humphrey St. Francis pulled away in overtime for a 65-52 win in the D2-3 subdistrict final Thursday at Stanton High School.
The Wildcats got off to a quick 5-0 start thanks to a 3-pointer by JaShaun Vyborny and a Brandon Watters layup, and Winside held a 15-14 lead after the opening period.
The Flyers opened the second with a 12-0 run and led by as many as 16 points in the first half before Winside cut the deficit to 11 at the half on two Dylan Brogren free throws and another basket by Watters.
Winside continued to chip away at the St. Francis lead and took the lead late in the fourth quarter on scores by Watters and Brogren. St. Francis tied the game at 48-48 and Winside has a chance to win in regulation when Watters was fouled on an inbounds pass with 2.0 seconds left. Watters missed the front end of the one-and-one and the game went into overtime.
St. Francis came out with five quick points in the first 35 seconds, as Trevor Pfeifer hit a 3-pointer and followed with a steal and score to make it 53-48. The Flyers would outscore Winside 17-4 in the extra session to finish off the win and advance to the district finals.
Watters scored a team-high 24 points and Brogren added 13 in the losing effort for the 15-9 Wildcats. Colton Jensen added six points, Vyborny had five, Caleb Kampa put in three and Billy Chappell added a free throw.
