Click HERE to view photos of the varsity game (photos courtesy of Joan Lindgren).

The Wahoo Warriors defeated the Centennial Broncos 53-46 on Thursday night.

Wahoo got off to a great start behind Greg Milliken’s 12 first quarter points. A three point shot from Derek Fiala put Wahoo up 21-9 after one quarter.

The Warrior lead was still 10 at 29-19 with a minute left in the half, when Josh Discher scored on a drive, and Milliken came up with a steal and lay up with 2 seconds left to send Wahoo to the halftime break up 33-19.

Centennial cut into the Warrior lead in the third quarter. Following a K.J. Gierhan trey to make it 35-26, the Warriors’ Max Cook hit back-to-back treys to push the lead back to 15 at 41-26. A Sean Lindgren trey at the third quarter buzzer put Wahoo up 46-33.

The fourth quarter would be a struggle for the Warriors. The Broncos scored the first 7 points of the quarter to cut the Warrior lead to 46-40 with 5 minutes remaining. A Jake Barry basket made it 48-40. Two free throws a minute later from the Broncos’ Tyler Wullenwaber cut the lead to 49-44 with 3 minutes remaining. Two Max Cook free throws made it 51-44.

Turnovers on the Broncos’ last four possessions prevented the Broncos from getting any closer. Missed free throw opportunities from the Warriors prevented them from putting the game away earlier. Wahoo was 5-14 from the line in the fourth quarter, and 7-19 for the game from the line.

“It was a good win over a big and athletic Centennial team. They returned 4 of 5 starters from a year ago, when they beat us in double overtime, so we were very worried about this game. Our effort was again very good. That is the best thing that we have going for us, in that we play hard. Our inability to knock down free throws made the fourth quarter much more stressful than it needed to be, but it was still a good win. We played a really good first half. Greg Milliken played very well, especially in the first half, and did a great job on the defensive end with 7 steals. Jake Barry and Josh Discher did a great job on the glass, and Max Cook really hit two big treys in the third quarter for us,” said Head Coach Kevin Scheef.

Milliken led Wahoo with 15 points. Jake Barry had 10 and Max Cook added 9. Jake Barry and Discher led the Warriors with 10 rebounds apiece. Milliken had 7 steals. Wahoo was 6-11 from behind the arc, but just 7-19 at the free throw line.