Bear offense struggles at Wayne

Wayne  — Wayne figured out the best way to beat the Laurel-Concord-Coleridge boys was by limiting possessions and playing tough defense.

The Blue Devils limited the Bears to just 41 shots in Tuesday night’s area matchup at Wayne High School and forced the LCC boys into a season-low 27 percent shooting from the field to post a 53-35 win.

Wayne did a good job of limiting LCC’s opportunities in the first half, taking a 20-12 lead into the locker room. The Bears could never get into a consistent offensive flow and suffered their second loss to the Blue Devils, including a 59-50 decision in the consolation game of the Great Northeast Nebraska Shootout on Dec. 31.

Noah Schutte had a double-double for the Bears, finishing with 15 points and a team-best 12 rebounds and three assists. Cael Hartung added nine points and four rebounds, Ty Erwin scored six, Evan Schmitt had three points and two assists and Evan Haisch scored two points.

The 10-3 Bears game with Creighton on Friday was postponed due to the weather. They have three road games starting with Tuesday’s bout at Hartington-Newcastle. They are at Battle Creek on Thursday and at Osmond on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

LCC 6 6 7 16 — 35

Wayne 10 10 11 22 — 53

LCC Wayne

FG 7-21 16-26

3PT 4-20 3-11

FT 9-11 12-19

Reb 23 31

TOs 8 13

SCORING

LCC — Schmitt 3, Hartung 9, Schutte 15, Haisch 2, Erwin 6.

WAYNE — J. Lutt 2, N. Lutt 2, Walling 2, Bartos 3, Rogers 6, Eischeid 16, DeBoer 9, Sweetland 13. 

REBOUNDS

LCC — Noah Schutte, 12; Cael Hartung, 4; Evan Schmitt, 3; Austin Hall, 3; Evan Haisch, 1. Wayne - C Rogers, 11; T Deboer, 7; D. Eischeid, 6; S Sweetland, 3; N Lutt, 2. 

ASSISTS LCC - Noah Schutte, 3; Evan Schmitt, 2.  Wayne - T. Eischeid, 5; S Sweetland, 2.

STEALS LCC - Noah Schutte, 2; Cael Hartung, 1; Evan Schmitt, 1.