WALTHILL — The fourth-seeded Wynot Blue Devils upset the top-seeded Walthill Blujays on Thursday night in Walthill.
The Wynot boys joined the girls team as they both played for the Lewis and Clark Conference Basketball Tournament crown at Wayne State College.
This was a very competitive game as the Blue Devils would build a 32-26 halftime advantage and were able to maintain that lead the rest of the game to earn the 61-55 win.
Wynot got a big game from Dylan Heine, who led all scorers with 22 points. Chase Schroeder continued his stellar play at the low post and finished with 17 big points.
Walthill got double-figure scoring from Ethan Parker with 16 points and Hugo Parker hit four three-pointers for 12 points while Adrian Phillips chipped in with 10 points. Keith Morse just missed double figures with his nine points in balanced scoring by the Blujays.
In the opening quarter, the two teams would trade buckets. Adrian Phillps led Walthill with four points and Hugo Parker drained a trey for the Blujays.
Wynot countered with balance, getting a bucket each from Dylan Heine, Andrew Haberman, Kotner Koch and Kasen Koch. Chase Schroeder hit a basket plus-one as the two teams were tied at 11-11 at the end of one frame.
Wynot would score 21 points in the second quarter and Walthill connected for 17. The Blue Devils was paced by a trio of three-pointers by Dylan Heine and one by Carson Wieseler and six points in the paint from Chase Schroeder. Walthill countered with long-range shots from beyond the arc by Hugo Parker, Keith Morris, Ethan Parker and Favon Kearnes, but they fell behind 32-26 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Walthill tried to rally behind six points by Ethan Parker and five points from Adrian Phillips.
Wynot maintained the lead with two more treys by Dylan Heine, five points from Zack Foxhoven and four free throws by Chase Schroeder as the Blue Devils took a 47-41 lead into the final frame.
Walthill would attempt to come back with a pair of Hugo Parker treys and four points by Ethan Parker.
Wynot got four points each by Dylan Heine and Chase Schroeder. The game could have ended up a lot closer, but neither team could hit their free throws. Walthill went 0-6 from the line while Wynot had more chances when the Blujays tried trading fouls for three-pointers. The Blue Devils did not impress either, going 6-16 from the charity stripe in the final minutes.
Wynot would show its grit, however, as it earned the 61-55 win and played for the championship on Monday.
Wynot 11 21 15 14 = 61 Walthill 11 17 13 14 = 55