The Wauneta-Palisade boys’ basketball team moved to 7-7 on the season with wins over Perkins County and Garden County.
    Friday’s game against Perkins County did not start off pretty. The Broncos were scoreless for the first three minutes of the game before breaking loose with a Tucker Boos three-pointer. Ben Anderjaska and Ty Duvel scored in the paint on back-to-back possessions before Boos made it three in a row when Austen Rozelle found him open on a back door cut. Anderjaska made the WP lead 12-5 before both teams struggled to score over the final minutes of the quarter.
    The offensive struggles continued in the second quarter. Duvel used a nice fake to increase WP’s lead to 15-7, but it would take until three minutes left in the half for the Broncos to score again. Rozelle made baskets on back-to-back possessions, but Perkins County whittled the lead down to 19-16.  Braxton McKinney, playing in his first game since Dec. 6, pushed WP’s lead to 21-16 with a late basket.
    Six straight points by the Plainsmen to start the second half left WP trailing 21-22 before an Anderjaska basket stopped the bleeding. A layup by Boos kicked off a strong final three minutes for the Broncos. Duvel came up with a steal and layup to give WP the lead for good, but Gunner Goings, Duvel, Rozelle and Anderjaska scored on consecutive possessions to shut the door on Perkins County. WP entered the fourth quarter with momentum strongly on its side and a 35-25 lead.
    Rozelle scored WP’s only basket of the first three minutes of the fourth quarter. With just under five minutes left in the game, Anderjaska found Duvel open on an inbounds pass. The Bronco press  quickly forced a turnover and Duvel capitalized with a layup allowing WP to cruise to a 44-35 win.

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