WILMINGTON — Waynesville improved its seasonal record to 10-8 with a 60-51 victory over Wilmington Tuesday evening at Fred Summers Court.

The Spartans were hot as fire in the first half, jumping out to a 16-6 first quarter lead. A 19-point effort in the second quarter put the Spartans in front 35-13 at halftime.

But the Hurricane staged a strong comeback in the second half, erupting for 27 points in the final period and closing the final gap to single digits.

Mikey Brown was saddled with four first half fouls, limiting his efforts on the floor so Wilmington worked the ball inside to Malachi Cumberland who scored 12 points in the first three periods. Brown helped the fourth quarter surge, scoring all 11 of his points including a pair of three pointers.

Jayceon Kibler added 11 points, including seven in the second half. A bright spot for the Hurricane was senior Jon Custis, earning his first start of the season, and he responded with nine points, including seven in the final period.

Nick Warren paced the Spartans scoring with 15 points, nine in the first half. Zevin Sesslar followed with 12, including 10 in the first half.

Wilmington (4-13) has lost six consecutive games, but through the losing streak, head coach Jaevin Cumberland credited his squad for stepping up and fighting in the final period and closing the gap.

“I’m proud of my team for their effort in the final quarter,” Cumberland said. “We could not get anything going in the first half, and they could have played out the string. We showed a lot of fight and battled hard right to the end.”

The Hurricane travels to Western Brown Friday night as they return to SBAAC action. Wilmington defeated the Broncos with their best offensive game of the season, 68-57 in early January.

“My hope is we can build some momentum with what we did in the final quarter tonight and keep it going at Western Brown on Friday,” the WHS coach said.

SUMMARY

Jan 30, 2024

@Fred Summers Court

Waynesville 60, Wilmington 51

WA^16^19^11^14^^60

WI^6^7^11^27^^51

(60) WAYNESVILLE (2fg-3fg-ft-tp) Rocha 1-0-4-6, Warren 5-1-2-15, Berrey 3-0-2-8, Buck 0-0-1-1, Sesslar 3-2-0-12, Sullivan 1-0-2-4, Squire 1-3-0-11, Barthouse 0-1-0-3. TOTALS 14-7-11-60.

(51) WILMINGTON (2fg-3fg-ft-tp) Brown 1-2-3-11, Fickert 0-0-4-4, Rickman 0-0-0-0, Streety 0-0-3-3, Platt 0-0-0-0, Cumberland 6-0-0-12, Mawyer 0-0-1-1, Custis 4-0-1-9, Massie 0-0-0-0, Kibler 3-0-5-12. TOTALS 14-2-17-51.