By PAUL GOTHAM
WAYNE, N.Y. — Less than 24 hours after pulling out a come-from-behind victory, the Wayne boys’ basketball team took the court on senior night, and Alec Gilbert delivered for the Eagles.
Gilbert scored 17 of his season-high 32 points in the second half as Wayne defeated Finger Lakes East rival Waterloo, 67-44.
“He settled in and started making some better decisions,” Wayne head coach Bill Thomson said of the senior center. “He started relaxing a little bit and playing with confidence.”
Gilbert connected on a catch-and-shoot triple for an 8-2 Wayne lead late in the first quarter. He followed with a drive from foul-line extended and capped the first frame with a bucket in the lane.
Wayne had a double-digit lead at 16-5 and did not allow Waterloo to get any closer.
Interior passing: Alek Reynolds to Alec Gilbert. @waynebb2019 34 @WaterlooAD 17 (halftime) @SecVBBasketball pic.twitter.com/bkWWAGMabl
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 11, 2023
“He wasn’t rushing so much and started being a leader for us,” Thomson added. “He was just knocking down some tough shots.”
The win was the sixth straight for Wayne (16-3) and 12th in the past 13 games. This coming after the graduations of double-digit performers Mason Blankenberg and Devon Forrest who helped the Eagles to the Section V Class B1 championship in 2021 and a spot in the Class A2 semis a year ago.
This year’s squad dropped a pair of games early in the season before finding its identity.
“We realized that we had to be more physical,” Thomson explained. “In the beginning of the year, Pal-Mac, Geneva kinda beat up on us a little bit. We got more physical, took care of the ball better. We rebounded better, and we started to play more together as a team.”
Wayne avenged the loss to Pal-Mac on Thursday night in a game that was rescheduled from last Friday after frigid temperatures forced a postponement.
“Obviously, it was a big high from last night,” Thomson said. “We were down the entire game until the 2:40 mark when we took our first lead of the game. We talked about it in the locker room before tonight’s game. That it’s very easy after a big high to kinda just come down.”
Instead of a letdown, Wayne scored on seven of 10 possessions at one point in the first quarter. Cameron Blankenberg connected on back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second as the Eagles grabbed a 34-17 advantage heading into halftime.
Cam Blankenberg buries a 3. @waynebb2019 27-13. pic.twitter.com/ntBC55TF2h
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 11, 2023
Blankenberg finished with 11. PJ Ostrowski added 15. Joshua Warner (4), Sean Nellis (3) and PJ Treasure (2) rounded out the scoring for Wayne.
Nolan Slywka finds Markell Kingston-Johnson ahead of the defense for the layup. @WaterlooAD cuts the deficit to 11 at 37-26. pic.twitter.com/zyXwlye3ss
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 11, 2023
Devin Mulvey-Salerno led Waterloo (11-7) with 17 points. Nolan Slywka added 12. Markell Kingston-Johnson (6), Dylan Caraballo (5) and Casey Burcroff (4) also scored for the Tigers.
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