Wagner 26, Avon 22

On Tuesday, February 12, Wagner took its 8th grade boys to Avon to play a game against a combined 7th and 8th grade Avon team. We were with only six players this evening as one player was down with an illness and another was playing in Vermillion, but the boys sucked it up and prevailed in a 26-22 victory. Things started out well enough as Wagner was up 8-2 after the 1st quarter and 12-5 at halftime. They did get outscored in the second half but made some key plays down the stretch to pull out the win. Matt Link handled the point guard duties in this game and did quite well as he led the team in scoring with 11 tallies. He also dished out some nice assists and played some solid defense throughout. Ted Slaba contributed nine points, including two made three-point shots. Tanner Krcil and Theron Zephier rounded out the scoring by netting four and two points, respectively.

Wagner 36, MVP 19 7th Grade Boys

On Thursday, Wagner played host to the Mt. Vernon-Plankinton Titans at the National Guard Army. The 7th grade boys were anxious to hit the floor as it had been two weeks since they last played a game. They did not disappoint, coming out ready to go as they ended the 1st quarter ahead by a count of 12-5. And they would not look back as they came away victorious by a count of 36-19. Davyan Williamson had a huge night as he went off for 23 points to lead the way for the Red Raiders. Joey Cournoyer, Carter Cournoyer, and Braxton Knudsen all had four points while Caleb Zephier sank one free throw to complete the scoring for Wagner. These boys picked things up a little bit defensively in this game and it made a difference.

Wagner 29, MVP 31 8th Grade Boys

The 8th grade boys then took the floor and struggled through the opening quarter that found them trailing by an 11-0 margin. However, in the second quarter we gained Chris Nelson who was busy competing in a JV game over at the school, and he made a profound difference. He helped bring us back as the score at halftime was 19-12. The boys did continue to play better but we just didn’t have enough to get over the hump as the Titans ended up with a 31-29 win. Wagner was led in scoring by Slaba who had eleven, which included three made baskets from behind the arc. Nelson came on to score eight points followed by Link’s six. Colby and Tanner Krcil each scored one bucket. The first quarter was obviously the difference in this one but the boys kept their heads up and seemed to be energized by the appearance of Nelson in the second quarter. They did play hard throughout and they did get some good looks in the first quarter, they just couldn’t get the shots to fall. It seems to be that these guys keep getting a little bit better each time out which is always nice to see from a coaching standpoint.