COLUMBIA CITY - Led by the one-two punch of Jacob Thompson and Riley Stichter, Wawasee's varsity boys basketball team beat West Noble 86-73 Saturday in the championshp game of Class 3A Sectional 21 at Columbia City High School.
Thompson scored a game-high 36 points, while Stichter added 28.Trevor McKibben chipped in with 12 points, as the Warriors improved to 16-7 on the season and advanced to the regional for the sixth time in school history and for the first time since 2006.
Wawasee has won four games in a row and 10 of its last 11.
The Warriors will play in the Blackford Regional Saturday at 10 a.m. against either Fort Wayne Concordia or Fort Wayne Dwenger, who will play in the sectional championship tonight because Concordia's girls played in the state championship game Saturday.
The second semifinal game at Blackford, scheduled for approximately noon, will feature Fort Wayne Elmhurst and Yorktown.
For West Noble, Cody Hastings led the way with 23 points Saturday, while Jake Hutsell scored 14 points, Mitchell Knepper added 13 and Dakota Kreczmer finished with 11 points.
The Chargers, who finished the season with a 10-13 record, led 20-17 after the first quarter.
Wawasee's high-scoring offense then put up 32 points in the second quarter to lead 49-39 at halftime and 66-61 after three quarters of play.
