Wayne finished the first half on a 19-2 run, turning a competitive game into a rout, and never let up en route to a 105-54 whipping of Lebanon at UD Arena in the Division I boys basketball sectional finals.
The Warriors held Lebanon to one field goal over an eight-minute stretch, taking a 35-27 lead and turning it into a 71-31 advantage. Meanwhile, Wayne blistered the nets at a 71.4 percent clip from the field (40-of-56).
“They didn’t just take it up a notch, they took it up several notches,” Lebanon coach Pat Murphy said. “We knew coming in that we had to make shots and take care of the basketball and we needed them to miss the jump shots that we wanted them to take. Neither of those things happened.
“Wayne made the plays that we challenged them to make. But, they’re a very good team. We saw today why they are in the conversation of teams that can win a state title.”
Eleven players scored for Wayne in the rout, with four in double figures. Travis Trice led the Warriors with 20 points while Markus Crider scored 17. Juan Ford added 14 and Justin Hollins had 12 for Wayne, which improved to 22-1.
“I don’t know how many assists we wound up with, but we were very unselfish with the basketball,” Wayne coach Travis Trice said. “We were able to get our guys the ball in a position where they could do something with it and that was key.
“I thought we rebounded well and played well defensively all around. We thought we could pressure them and force them into taking difficult shots and we were able to do that.”
Lebanon (6-15) committed a season-high 27 turnovers with 19 of them coming in the middle two quarters when Wayne took control. Zach Beckner scored 14 points to lead Lebanon and Beau Smith added 12.
Wayne plays Winton Woods at 4 p.m. Saturday in the district final at UD Arena.
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