Warriors scramble to make final
WAYNE 57 LAKEWOOD ST. EDWARD 51 (OT)
— A season’s worth COLUMBUS of state title aspirations has reached the final hurdle for Wayne High’s boys basketball team.
The Warriors needed overtime to take down nemesis Lakewood St. Edward 57-51 in Friday night’s Division I state semifinal at Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center.
Wayne (25-4) will play Westerville South (27-1) at 8:30 tonight for the championship.
St. Edward was the defending D-I state champ. The Eagles beat Wayne in last December’s D-I state football championship. This is the first time Wayne has advanced to the final four.
“I told them champions find a way to win. Guys stepped up their games and I’m really proud of them,” Wayne coach Travis Trice said. “We knew it was going to be a fight. I was hoping we’d get off to a better start. You gotta dig deep to win a game like this. I thought it was a great gut-check for us.”
Wayne seemed ripe to be
manhandled early. Firing on all cylinders in midseason, the Warriors did anything but Friday night.
Eventually Wayne caught up, and defense was a reason.
D’Mitrik Trice hit a layup, and Rodrick Caldwell stole an inbounds pass, made a layup and the resulting free throw for a fivepoint trip that put Wayne up 49-45 with 2:21 left in regulation.
Ahmad Wagner put Wayne up 53-51 with a nifty spin layup for the only basket of overtime. Trice added a pair of free throws with 27.4 left, then Wayne forced a turnover. Caldwell added a couple of free throws with 13 seconds left. Wayne outscored St. Ed 60 in OT.
Caldwell led the Warriors with 17 points and Xeyrius Williams added 13 points and eight rebounds. Kipper Nichols paced St. Ed with 20 points and nine rebounds. Michael Ryan added 14 points.
Wayne pounded St. Ed on the boards, 34-22.
“That was the most talented team we’ve seen all year,” St. Ed coach Eric Flannery said. “They had five guys on the floor all the time who could score. They just attacked from everywhere.”
It was another fine offensive game from Caldwell. His ability to hit outside opened things up inside for Williams and Wagner (nine points, four rebounds). Now they are a win away from being a championship combination.
“I knew when I came to Wayne I had a pretty good chance to get here,” said Caldwell, who transferred last summer from Stivers. “I just believed in Coach Trice.”