The Wayne Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs were hosting Maysville Tuesday night for Senior night before heading to Cyril on Friday for their first District game with Rush Springs. The girls tip at 6 p.m. and the boys play at 7:30 p.m.

“We played Rush Springs early in the season, and I know both teams are more seasoned now,” head coach Jackson Embry said.

Last Friday, the Bulldogs picked up a 64-60 win over Konawa behind Ty Kemp’s 22 points and 12 rebounds. Jaxon Dill nearly matched him with 21 points.

According to Embry, Wayne’s early defense was slow to get going and the teams were trading buckets back and forth through the first half.

Thanks to some second half adjustments, the Bulldogs put Konawa’s shooters in a bind and were able to pull ahead down the stretch. Konawa was held to just seven fourth quarter points.

Thursday night, Wayne got a 63-43 win over Maud. Three Bulldogs were in double figures – Kemp had 21, Dill  had 16 and Ben Fisher had 13. Kemp also had 14 rebounds.

“Maud had a big post guy who clogged the paint. He was stopping Ty and Jaxon from getting in for easy buckets.

“We made some adjustments and sent two guys at him and got him in foul trouble. When he went out we were able to pull away and coast to the win,” Embry said.

The coach was pleased to also have been able to get some more guys playing time off the bench.

Last Monday, Wayne dropped an overtime loss to Wynnewood, 80-77.

“We started slow and before we knew it, we were down 17-0. I called a timeout and we had a tough love conversation and we had some guys go into overdrive,” Embry said.

Wayne clawed back and were down by just six at hafltime, 34-28.

In the second half Wayne outscored Wynnewood in both the third and fourth quarters, taking the game to overtime.

“We just got gassed in overtime. It took a lot of fight to claw back and send it to extra minutes. It was another tight loss.”

According to Embry, five of Wayne’s 11 losses are by less than three points.

Kemp was, once again, the leading scorer with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Dill was close behind with 24 and Brody Kemp added 14.

In total, Ty Kemp had 71 points and 37 rebounds.

“Ty had a great week; he’s been playing really well,” Embry said.

Girls

The Wayne Lady Bulldogs picked up a win over Maud last Thursday, 40-26. But, they dropped a game with Wynnewood on Monday, 45-36, and a game with Konawa on Friday, 35-30.

In the win over Maud, the team played well and spread the ball around, according to head coach Jackson Embry.

“We played some pressure defense and our younger girls played experienced and good, tough defense.”

The score was close through three quarters, but Wayne poured it on in the fourth, outscoring Maud 16-4.

Freshman Maddie Moreno was Wayne’s leading scorer with nine points. She also  had 11 rebounds. Audra Watts had eight while Madilyn Sharp and  Taelynn Ringwald each had seven points.

Wayne grabbed 38 rebounds in the win.

Last Monday, against Wynnewood, Wayne kept the score close through the first quarter, down just 10-8.

Wynnewood went on a run in the second quarter and they held a 27-19 halftime lead.

“Midway through the second quarter we made some adjustments. We added Coral and Maddie and they helped out on the floor. They played quicker and extended our defense,” said Embry.

Audra Watts led the Lady Bulldogs with 11 points. Madilyn Sharp added seven while Ringwald had six.

Moreno and Ringwald each had seven rebounds.

In the loss to Konawa, the game was tight and though they struggled in the first half, the Lady Bulldogs played good basketball in the second half.

“We had our chances in the second half, but couldn’t pull out the win.

“We’ve played some of our best basketball in ten out of the last 12 quarters,” Embry said.

Ringwald was the scoring leader with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Watts was close behind with nine points.