By: Joe Shouse, Sportswriter
ELIDA – For the Wayne Trace Raiders the tournament trail ended last Tuesday when the red, white, and blue faced Kalida in semi-final district action in Division IV. The Wildcats had the upper hand throughout the contest and came away with a 54-39 win. The Raiders close out their season at 19-6 while Kalida moves on with a 19-5 mark.
The Raiders fell behind early, trailing 9-0 and never did tie or take the lead. The first quarter ended with Kalida holding a 12-6 advantage. The Wilcats opened second quarter play scoring the first five points to increase their margin to double digits at 17-6 Wayne Trace quickly scored the next five points on a three-pointer from Jace Vining and a two-point goal from Nate Gerber. Trailing by just eight, the Raiders couldn’t slow down the Wildcat offense as Kalida scored the final seven points of the half and the first couple of points to start the third stanza for a 9-0 run and a 26-11 advantage.
Mid way through the third frame Josiah Linder drained a three-pointer to get the lead under ten with the Raiders trailing 31-22 but the Raiders could not cut in the Wildcat lead. Vining connected on a triple in the closing seconds of the period to put the Raiders in the hole 38-27.
Vining, who finished with 18 points to lead all scorers answered for the Raiders in the fourth quarter. The junior scored the first two buckets to get the Raiders as close as they had been since the early first quarter, trailing by just seven 38-31. The seven-point margin quickly grew 14 with three minutes remaining and the Wildcats in the drivers seat leading convincingly 50-36. The 39 points scored in the contest was the lowest total of the season for the Raiders.
Besides Vining no other Raiders scored in double figures with Reid Miller finishing with eight. Nate Gerber, who had scored 60 points in two previous sectional games was held to four points. Other scorers for WT was Linder with three and Trae Sinn, Cale Crosby and Alex Reinhart with two points a piece.
The victorious Wildcat’s were paced by Owen Recker with 17, Trevor Lambert 12 and Grant Laudick adding 10.
With the loss, five seniors saw their high school career come to a close including Evan Mohr, Mox Price, Josiah Linder, Trae Sinn, and Caleb Yenser. While the team will certainly miss their leadership, three starters will return including Vining, Gerber and Miller, along with several substitutes who will see valuable playing time next season.
