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WAYNE — The Wynot Blue Devils were on a mission in Monday’s boys championship game of the 2024 Lewis and Clark Conference Basketball Tournament at Wayne State College.
They wanted to avenge a recent loss to the Ponca Indians, and they wanted to make sure they were not upstaged by their classmates as the Wynot Lady Blue Devils had just earned the conference title by defeating the Plainview Lady Pirates.
Wynot (13-5) hung the first loss of the season on Ponca (16-1), defeating its regional rivals 38-37.
The win not only brought an end to Ponca’s undefeated season, but also got revenge for a regular-season loss in double overtime to the Indians earlier this year.
The recent game was a real nailbiter as Wynot held just a one-point lead at halftime, and increased it to two points at the end of the third quarter before winning the game by a single point.
The Blue Devils won this one at the free-throw line, holding an 11-2 advantage for the game.
Wynot did not have much success in shutting down the Indians’ leading scorer Dalton Lamprecht as he hit for a gamehigh 19 points. The Blue Devils’ defense was able to limit the rest of Ponca’s players, though.
Wynot was led by Dylan Heine with 14 points and got seven points from Andrew Haberman and six points from Chase Schroeder.
The game started slowly on offense for both teams. The Blue Devils got a bucket each from Dylan Heine, Kasen Koch and Chase Schroeder.
Ponca got four points from Tucker McGill, a layup by Dalton Lamprecht and a late three-pointer from Brody Taylor to give the Indians the 9-6 early lead.
In the second quarter, Wynot’s defense held Ponca to just five points, all by Dalton Lamprecht. The Blue Devils got a basket each from Chase Schroeder, Andrew Haberman, Kasen Koch and a bucket plus-one by Zack Foxhoven to give themselves a 15-14 halftime lead.
The offenses would pick up in the third quarter.
For Ponca, Dalton Lamprecht dumped in nine points and Ben Bodlak drained a three-pointer.
Wynot answered with a three-pointer each from Dylan Heine and Carson Wieseler and four points from Andrew Haberman as the Blue Devils clung to a 38-36 lead.
In the fourth quarter, Ponca tried to mount a charge from beyond the arc. Dalton Lamprecht, Tucker McGill and Nolan Janssen all hit from three-point range. Wynot would only get one field goal by Dylan Heine, but four straight free throws by him and a pair by Chase Schroeder tied the game.
Zach Foxhoven hit the back end of a two-shot foul with 4.7 seconds left. Ponca got the ball across the center line and called a timeout with 2.7 left, but the Indians did not get their shot off as Wynot held on to pick up the 38-37 win and another Lewis and Clark Conference Basketball Tournament championship trophy.
Wynot 6 9 13 10 — 38 Ponca 9 5 12 11 — 37
SCORING
Wynot - Dylan Heine, 14; Andrew Haberman, 7; Chase Schroeder, 6; Zack Foxhoven, 4; Kasen Koch, 4; Carson Wieseler, 3. Ponca - Dalton Lamprecht, 19; Tucker McGill, 6; Brody Taylor, 3; Ben Bodlak, 3; Zain Stark, 3; Nolan Janssen, 3.
