WOLVERINES RIDE SEECOND-HALF WAVE TO 71-41 WIN OVER NOTRE DAME

By: Tim Birney | Waverly Athletics | March 5, 2021 | Photo courtesy David Alliger

WAVERLY — Waverly did a lot of things teams need to do to win games: created turnovers, limited its turnovers, and pounded the offensive glass being among them.

One thing Waverly did not do well in the first half was shoot the ball, connecting on 8 of its 38 shots (21 percent) from the field in first half, including just 1 of 12 from behind the 3-point arc. The Wolverines did, however, pull down seven of their 15 offensive rebounds in the first two quarters and turn a few of them into points.

Malaki Owens scored 13 of his team-high 16 points in the first half for the Crusaders, while junior Davis Croft led a balanced Waverly offense with five points. Both methods were equally effective as the game went to the intermission tied at 22-22.

The second half belonged to the Wolverines.


Waverly remained hot in the fourth quarter, with Brennan Traub knocking down a 3-pointer and scoring five points, Tomasso adding four points, and Lambert, Liam Traub, and junior Brady Blauvelt each connecting from 3-point range as the Wolverines outscored the Crusaders, 20-15, in the final stanza.

The Wolverines shot 55 percent (21 of 38) from the field in the second half, including 5 of 15 from behind the arc, and had eight more offensive rebounds. Overall, they shot 38 percent from the field.

Waverly turned the ball over just seven times in the win, including only three in the second half, while as a team the Wolverines registered 18 steals, among the 31 forced turnovers.

Tomasso led Waverly with 21 points and three steals, while Brennan Traub had 10 points and four rebounds — all on the offensive end, Lambert had nine points, four rebounds, and three steals, and Liam Traub had seven points, three rebounds, and one blocked shot.

Croft had seven points and three steals in the win, while Blauvelt added five points and four boards, senior Aidan Westbrook had four points, four rebounds, and four steals,  senior Peyton Bowen had four points, a team-high nine boards, including five on the offensive glass, and one blocked shot, Decker had four points and four rebounds, and junior Thomas Hand dished out a team-high three assists.