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COLUMBIA CITY -ÊAfter the sectional draw came out Sunday, people were asking Columbia City basketball coach Chris Benedict what he thought of it.
Turns out, not much. Not yet, anyway. Benedict's concern was Tuesday night's home game against Wawasee.
This late in the season, no team wants to be known as the team that lost to winless Wawasee. Columbia City included.
"That's very true," Benedict said. "Everybody had been asking me about the draw. I wasn't concerned with the draw until after tonight. If we had lost tonight, I'm not sure I would ever be concerned with the draw."
Benedict can relax now, as Columbia City (8-12) rode a big second half to a 69-43 win over now 0-19 Wawasee.
Sixty-nine points were a season high for Columbia City.
"It's about time, about time," Benedict said. "We had been struggling. It's been a long time since we have scored 69 points in a game. A lifetime."
The Eagles held a 27-24 lead at halftime, but they outscored the Warriors 42-19 in the second half, including 23-5 in the fourth quarter.
Columbia City had the inside-outside balance working, as widebody center Jason Elkins led all scorers with 14 points. He supplied the inside, while Mike Schumaker and Justin Waterson supplied the outside. Schumaker scored 13, while Waterson added 11.
The Warriors started the game without starting frontcourt player senior R.J. Nethaway, out with a knee injury. At halftime they lost their leading scorer and top rebounder, 6-foot-7 center Andrew Warner. Warner recently broke his nose and experienced dizziness during halftime.
With Warner in the game, the Warriors and their 2-3 zone held their own in the first half. With Warner out of the game, any inside presence was lost.
"When you take two of our inside players out who can't play, especially as physical as Columbia City is ... our kids were outweighed 60 or 70 pounds by Elkins," Wawasee coach Jerry Davis said.
Columbia City used Wawasee turnovers in the third quarter to extend the lead. With 3:27 left in the third quarter, a steal by Waterson led to a layup by Schumaker to make the game 37-30. Exactly one minute later, a steal by Dan Moore led to a three-point play by Waterson. Waterson scored, drew a foul and hit the free throw to up the lead to 42-32 with 2:27 left in the third.
The Eagles put the game away with their 23-5 fourth quarter.
"It was nice to finish a team off," Benedict said. "We've had leads in the fourth quarter before, but we have never finished teams off."
