After a rough start to the week against a ranked opponent, the Wayne boys’ and girls’ basketball teams turned things around at the South Central Conference Tournament in Thackerville and played for a championship.

The boys played four games, losing the first to No. 12 Verden 68-30 on Jan. 6. Two days later, the Bulldogs opened tournament play with a 53-25 win over Tishomingo’s junior varsity.

Wayne beat Fox 77-70 the next day to set up a championship game matchup against Ryan on Jan. 10. Ryan prevailed 54-49 to win the title.

“We are struggling defensively, which ... has slowed us way down offensively,” Wayne coach Jackson Embry said. “Early on 42% of our points came from transition. That has dwindled down to 26% in the last four games.

“We aren’t turning the ball over, which is good. We are just putting a ton of strain on our offense because we struggled defensively this past week.”

Ben Fisher, who scored 69 points in three tournament games, and Langstyn McClendon were named to the all-tournament team for Embry’s Bulldogs (7-7).

“Ben has continued his hot hand,” Embry said. “And Langstyn is improving more each game, really proud of his maturity on the floor.”

Following Tuesday’s homecoming game against Springer, Wayne plays at Class 2A Stratford.

Girls

For the girls’ team, which split four games, there was a similar outcome. The Lady Bulldogs held their own against No. 17 Verden in a 36-30 loss then beat Springer 55-15 to open play at the South Central Conference Tournament.

The Bulldogs needed three overtimes and a pair of buzzer-beating shots from Audra Watts to defeat Maysville 61-57 on Jan. 9. Watts finished with a career-high 31 points.

Wayne, though, came up short in the championship game against No. 9 Ryan, losing 50-46.

Watts, Natalie Knoblach, who averaged 14 rebounds, and Taelyn Ringwald, were named to the All-Tournament team for Wayne (7-6).

“We played really sold defense this week, which has been our backbone on the season,” Embry said. “We battled it out with three ranked teams this week, going 1-2 but losing by a combined 10 points in the two losses.

“I’m proud of this group and their tenacity, especially this last week and the caliber of the teams we played, which will help us (navigate) the remainder of our tough schedule.”