D2 SECTIONAL FINAL … Wauseon’s Braden Vajen works along the baseline in the second half of a 64-34 win over Bryan in the Division II sectional finals. VIEW ALL PHOTOS OF THIS CONTEST FOR FREE AT WWW.THEVILLAGEREPORTER.COM
By: Nate Calvin
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
sports@thevillagereporter.com
WAUSEON (March 1, 2024) – The first quarter was the Connor Keefer show as the senior scored 11 of Wauseon’s 12 points and the Indians blew things open in the second for a 64-34 win to capture the sectional championship.
Gavin Jaessing scored on a back door to get Bryan on the board, the only time the Golden Bears led.
Keefer himself would then score eight straight points with two triples from the left side and then a turnaround jumper in the lane to give Wauseon an 8-2 lead.
Jaessing answered with another bucket and Carter Dominique scored in the low post to bring Bryan to within 8-6.
At the 1:30 mark of the first quarter and Wauseon in front 9-7, Bryan would try to hold for the final shot of the quarter, but the possession ended in a turnover and the Indians capitalized with Keefer drilling a trey from left corner for a 12-7 lead.
A Nicholas Stinner offensive rebound stick back for Wauseon and another Dominique score inside made it 14-9 before a Wauseon run put the Bears in a hole they couldn’t dig out of.
Stinner started it with a layup, Tyson Rodriguez scored on a drive, and Stinner turned in a three-point play as the Wauseon lead hit double figures for the first time at 21-11.
The run continued with a layup by Braden Vajen, Rodriguez was 2/2 at the foul line, and Keefer scored from point blank on a pass from Rodriguez to push the lead to 27-11.
Dominique made a pair at the free throw line to slow the surge, but Trey Parsons picked off a pass that he turned into a three-point play for Wauseon and Vajen added a field goal for a 31-13 lead at halftime.
Bryan found some offense in the third as they had a 10-5 start to the quarter thanks to consecutive triples by Mason Welling and Jaessing to trim the lead to 36-23.
Four points by Rodriguez and a bucket by Stinner helped stretch the lead back to 17 points but Herold hit a jumper from the top of the key and Dominique added a layup to cut the Wauseon lead to 42-29 heading to the final frame.
Wauseon would go on an 8-2 run to start the quarter thanks to four points from Parsons and field goals by Stinner and Vajen to take a 50-31 lead.
Herold then hit a three-pointer for what turned out to be Bryan’s final points of the game as Wauseon scored the last 14 points of the game to punch their ticket to districts.
Wauseon, who hit on 50% of their shots from the floor and committed just four turnovers, were topped in scoring by Stinner with 19, Keefer ended with 15, and Rodriguez added 13.
Bryan had just four players score on the night, but three were in double figures led by 11 points from Jaessing while Dominique and Herold contributed 10 each.
The top seeded Indians (14-9) will take on No. 5 seed Toledo Central Catholic (10-14) in the district semifinals at Lake High School on Thursday, March 7 at 7:30pm.
BRYAN (34) – Langenderfer 0; Jaessing 11; Welling 3; Bassett; Brown 0; Herold 10; Dominique 10; Kennedy 0; Watson; Totals: 10-3-5 – 34
WAUSEON (64) – Parsons 6; Richer 0; Rodriguez 13; Vajen 6; Schnitkey 0; Keefer 15; Ni. Stinner 19; Gype 3; Patterson 2; Neff 0; Totals: 20-4-12 – 64
BRYAN 7 6 16 5 – 34
WAUSEON 12 19 11 22 – 64
GAME STATISTICS
BRYAN: FG – 13/39 (33%); FT – 5/7 (71%); Rebounds – 20 (3 offensive); Turnovers – 9; WAUSEON: FG – 24/48 (50%); FT – 12/20 (60%); Rebounds – 28 (8 offensive); Turnovers – 4
