WAYNE – With two more regularly season games and another home tournament still on the schedule, the Wayne junior high boys basketball teams hosted their first tournament of the year this past weekend.
From the Wayne Jr/Sr high school and elementary gyms, Wayne welcomed in Norfolk Catholic, Battle Creek and Pierce during the Wayne W-Club Tournament.
In the seventh-grade games, Wayne defeated Battle Creek 43-33 before winning against Norfolk Catholic in the championship game, 37-33.
Leading the Wayne seventh graders in scoring during the first game were Kaden Keller with 14 points, Gavin Redden added seven and Colson Nelson scored five points. Other scoring came from Jamison Meyer (4 pts) as John Heithold, Alex Rodriguez and Jake Barner (3 pts each), Eli Elliot (2 pts) and Romel Collins (1 pt).
Championship scoring leaders went to Kaden Keller & Colson Nelsen with 12 points each. Other scorers were Gavin Redden (9 pts) and Alex Rodriguez (4 pts).
During the eighth-grade action, Wayne also won against Battle Creek 44-36 before falling to Norfolk Catholic 58-25 in the championship game.
From the victory against Battle Creek, Wayne was led in scoring by Caiden Backer with 16 points while Devin Anderson chipped in 11 points. Jase Dean (8 points), Jamari Williams (6), Drue Davis (2) and Ryan Karsky (1) rounded out the scoring.
Dean paced the team with 9 points against Norfolk Catholic. Caiden Backer (5 points), Jamari Williams (4), Drue Davis (3), Caden Wiese (2) and Ryan Karsky (2) also scored for the Devils.
The Wayne seventh and eighth grade teams will next visit Clarkson-Leigh (Leigh) on Thursday, February 6 before hosting Norfolk Catholic the following Thursday. The Blue Devil boys basketball teams will end their JH season on Saturday, February 15 hosting Hartington Cedar Catholic, Howells-Dodge and Laurel-Concord-Coleridge.