Wayne drops two last week

Friday night Wayne dropped a tough game with Stratford, 64-57.

“It was a good game that really went to the wire. We got behind in the first when they had some guys on fire offensively,” head coach Jackson Embry said.

“We were up 11-2 in the first quarter when their guard hit three threes and went off.”

That offensive onslaught changed Wayne’s defensive game plan from zone defense to man which, according to Embry, stressed their defense and put Wayne in a bit of a predicament.

However, the coach said after the first quarter Wayne found his groove and it was a tight game the rest of the way.

Wyatt Webster and Ty Kemp were the leading scorers for Wayne with 17 and 13, respectively. Jaxon Dill added nine.

Last Tuesday, Wayne hosted Davis and lost 58-45.

“Davis just has a different aggressiveness to them. They are always big and very physical, which we struggled with,” Embry said.

Webster had a team high 17 points. Kemp added 12 and Dill had 11.

Webster and Dill each hauled in five rebounds.

The Bulldogs were down 28-18 at halftime. Their offense warmed up in the second half, outscoring Davis 12-10 in the third, but they could not overcome the deficit.

“When Wyatt fouled out they were able to exploit us on the offensive end with their two bigs. That put us in trouble.”

According to Embry there were 12 lead changes in the first half but after some foul trouble Davis pulled away for the 13-point win.

Tuesday’s scheduled game at Asher was moved to next Thursday, January 25.

The Bulldogs will play Ringling on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the Healdton tournament.

Girls

Last Friday Wayne dropped a 55-34 loss to Stratford.

“We like to play our best basketball in the middle 8 minutes - last four minutes of the second quarter and first four minutes of the third quarter - and they hit us in the mouth in the third and coasted to the win,” Embry said.

Taelyn Ringwald had a team-high 16 points.

The Lady Bulldogs came up short in a 57-29 loss to Davis last Tuesday.

It was a tale of two halves as Wayne was down just five points, 23-18, at the break.

But, with only 11 points scored through the third and fourth quarters to Davis’ 34, Wayne could not dig out of the hole.

“Davis is a top 10 team in 2A. Going into the fourth quarter we were down just four, but we’ve struggled this season going all four quarters and this game was more of that.

“Our legs got tired and they were able to pull away,” Embry said.

Ringwald led Wayne with 14 points while Audra Watts joined her in double figures with 10.

Watts also had nine rebounds.

Tuesday night Wayne was scheduled to travel to Asher, but that game was rescheduled for Thursday, January 25.

The Lady Bulldogs will play Ringling on Thursday in the first round of the Healdton tournament.