3/9/13 At Devaney – State Tour. Semi-Finals
Wahoo 56
Wayne 49
The Wahoo Warriors held off a furious second half rally by the Wayne Blue Devils to hold on for the 56-49 win in the State Tournament Semi-Finals.
Wahoo, for the second straight day got off to a great start and built a big lead early. Senior Jonathan Abbott scored nine early points for the Warriors. Two Tyler Kavan free throws gave Wahoo an early 17-4 lead. A Brook Stuart trey to close the quarter put Wahoo up 20-6 after one quarter.
A Jonathan Abbott jumper early in the second quarter gave Wahoo it’s largest lead of the game of 18 points at 26-8. The Blue Devils then chipped away at the lead and cut the deficit to 13 by halftime at 31-18.
The Blue Devils then cut into the Warrior lead early in the third quarter and cut the lead to eight at 32-24. A Brook Stuart trey pushed the Warrior lead back to 37-26. Quinn McGill followed with two free throws on the next possession to make it 39-26. The Blue Devils then went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 39-33. A Jonathan Abbott bucket closed the quarter with Wahoo up 41-33.
Wayne then scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to make it 41-38. Two Jonathan Abbott free throws made it 43-38. A Wayne trey cut the lead to two at 43-41 with 5:00 minutes left. The Warriors did not panic though, and then made a run of their own. Two Jonathan Abbott free throws made it 45-41. Following a Wayne miss, Abbott hit another free throw to make it 46-41. Another Wayne missed shot was followed by a Warrior miss, but a big Quinn McGill offensive rebound saved the possession. McGill was fouled and hit two free throws to make it 48-41. Two more Jonathan Abbott free throws pushed the lead to 50-41. A Quinn McGill steal and two free throws capped a 9-0 lead that allowed the Warriors to retake control and put Wahoo up 52-41. The Warriors then hit four more free throws in the final minute, two by Ben Scheef and two by Quinn McGill to seal the win.
Jonathan Abbott led the Warriors with 30 points on 11-14 shooting from the field, to go with 3 steals. Quinn McGill had 10 points on 8-8 shooting from the line, including 6-6 in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors shot 36 free throws to just 7 for Wayne.
Wahoo, improves to 28-0 and advances to the State Finals this afternoon where they will face Boone Central.
