Wynot falls to St. Francis’ second-half surge

LINCOLN — The Wynot Blue Devils battled hard but were knocked out of the state tournament, 49-41, Wednesday night by the Humphrey St. Francis Flyers.

The Flyers avenged a regular-season loss to Wynot with the win.

The Blue Devils led at halftime but fell victim to a sluggish third quarter and solid free throw shooting by the Flyers down the stretch.

Wynot was led by the inside-outside play of Charlie Schroeder who finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. Garrett Lange continued his steady play with 12 points and seven rebounds while Anthony Haberman had a good first quarter and just missed double figures with nine points. Pfeifer

St. Francis was led by Tanner Pfeifer with a game high 18 points and helped out by Justin Liefeld with 13 points. The Flyers also finished with an 18-5 free throw advantage as a team.

The two teams traded baskets in the first quarter. Wynot got seven points from Anthony Haberman including a long three pointer and a bucket in close by Charlie Schroeder. Humphrey St Francis was led by three points from Tanner Pfeifer and a bucket each from Jaden Kosch and Justin Leifeld as the score was tied at 10 -10 after one.

Defense continued to dominate in the second period. The Flyers got a bucket each by Haustyn Forney and Jack Lubiochee. Wynot got a trey and five points from Charlie Schroeder and four points in the paint by Garrett Lange as they earned the 19-16 halftime advantage.

Wynot got a second 3-pointer by Charlie Schroeder to push Wynot’s lead to six-point early in the third quarter but the Flyers would mount a rally.

The Blue Devils uncharacteristically started to turn the ball over against the full court press applied by the Flyers. St. Francis went on a 15-7 run led by six points from Tanner Pfeifer and five points by Justin Liefeld.

Humphrey was also hitting the offensive glass and got several second and third chance baskets to help fuel the comeback. The Flyers went into the final quarter with a 31-26 lead.

Wynot tried to rally in the fourth quarter.

Charlie Schroeder hit his third trey of the night and then a floater in the lane. Garrett Lange had a couple of put-backs off of offensive rebounds. Jack Kuchta also had a steal and a bucket. It would not be enough, however, as the Flyers got a basket each from Justin Liefeld and Jaden Kosch and hit 14 of 16 free throws down the stretch to seal the 49-41 win.

SCORING Wynot-Charlie Schroeder, 15; Garrett Lange, 13; Anthony Haberman, 9; Owen Sudbeck, 2; Jack Kuchta, 2; Zack Foxhoven, 1. HSF - Tanner Pfeifer, 18; Justin Liefeld, 13; Haustyn Forney, 7; Jaden Kosch, 4; Austin Liefeld, 3; Tyler Preister, 2; Jack Lubischer, 2.

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