Wayne Christian got to celebrate senior night with a big win against Liberty Christian Academy on Thursday evening.
The Eagles controlled the game from the opening tip and defeated the Heat 78-40 in Coastal Plains Independent 2A Conference play.
“It’s senior night, and we have eight seniors, so our main goal was to make sure those guys got to play and have a good time, and they did,” Wayne Christian head coach Tommy Fox said. “They played well and had a good time.
“It was a good senior night.”
It took a little bit of time for the Eagles to get hot, but with the score tied 8-8 late in the first quarter, back-to-back baskets from Shawn Haskins started a 7-2 run that gave the Eagles a 15-10 advantage.
The Heat remained within striking distance and trailed 19-14 at the end of the first quarter.
Momentum really shifted over to Wayne Christian in the second quarter.
Rayshawn Boston hit a three-pointer at the start of the second quarter to get things started. Shiquan Etheridge then scored four straight points, and suddenly the Eagles’ lead grew to 26-14.
The Heat would get as close as 28-18, but they could not get any closer, and the Eagles led 43-23 at halftime.
Wayne Christian kept its foot on the gas pedal in the third quarter. The Eagles opened the third quarter on a 19-2 run, with Boston and Haskins scoring all of the Eagles’ points.
Free throws from Dylan Bass trimmed the deficit to 62-27, but Connor Batts’ three-pointer and Paul Rose’s layup put the Eagles ahead 67-27 and started the running clock.
“We made some adjustments to the press,” Fox said. “We definitely went on a big run there in the third, and that was good.”
Before the game, the Eagles honored their eight seniors – Jayquan Curry, Rose, Boston, Thomas Bouknight, Batts, Hunter Stovall, James Beale and Haskins – for their hard work on and off the court.
The Wayne Christian girls’ basketball team also celebrated senior night by defeating Liberty Christian 77-5. The Lady Eagles’ three seniors – Brianna Verme, Caroline Fox and Brittney Butts – were honored before the game.
Wayne Christian faces off against Greenfield tonight. It’ll be the Eagles’ fourth game in five days.
“We played Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and we’ll play on Friday,” Fox said. “It’s not a great situation, but at the same time, when we made the schedule, we thought, ‘let’s give these kids every opportunity to play games while they can.’”
