Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

Written By Will Willems (Lebanon Reporter) Beau Sawyer scored 15 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Stars into the sectional semifinal with a 63-55 over the Oracles. "My shot was feeling really good, and my teammates were getting me open," Sawyer said. "Everyone was doing their part so I could go in and hit shots." The 25 points and five 3-pointers were both career highs for Sawyer, who had never scored more than 17 points in a varsity game. He came in shooting 27% from behind the arc on the season but hit five of six attempts on Tuesday. "I've known that was in there the whole season," Western Boone head coach Jason Smith said. "He just caught fire. It was incredible. It's a massive moment too, for a sophomore to step up like that and hit big shot after big shot." He scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to give the Stars a 45-43 lead, and after Delphi jumped back in front by two, Sawyer hit back-to-back 3s to give WeBo the lead for good at 51-47. All told, he scored 10 points in a vital 12-2 run that put the Stars up 57-49. "I was just focused on taking care of the ball and making sure we got good shots," Sawyer said. It was the second-straight season that the s in the first half, Sawyer didn't score in the third quarter after being called for a foul and then a technical when he got tangled up with a Delphi player going for a rebound.Stars reversed a regular season result against the Oracles in the opening round of the sectional. This year, Delphi defeated Western Boone 65-58 on Feb. 13, the second in a five-game losing streak to end the season for the Stars. Sawyer said WeBo had a team meeting after the end of the regular season, with the main message being the Stars needed to play like more of a team and a family. "This was great," Sawyer said. "We've been struggling as a team and had a little bit of a meeting that really helped boost us. Along with this, we have a lot of confidence." The biggest difference from the first game was the Stars' defense. In the loss to the Oracles in February, Delphi was able to get into the lane and covert easy baskets, shooting only five 3-pointers and out-rebounding the Stars 41-16. On Tuesday night, WeBo played a lot of zone and forced the Oracles to shoot from the outside, and they only made 3-of-17 threes. That also helped WeBo on the glass, as they cut the rebounding margin down to 41-34. "We were flying around in our 2-3, and forcing them into tough shots," Smith said. "We preached all week in practice that we were going to get stops, but we had to finish it with a rebound. Delphi is huge and relentless on the offensive glass, so we did a great job of finishing possession." WeBo started out the game on fire, scoring the first seven points of the contest and jumped out to a 12-3 lead. Delphi responded later in the quarter with an 8-1 run to get within 17-15 before Sawyer hit a buzzer-beater to give WeBo a five-point lead. It was a 13-point swing from the first meeting between the teams. "That was huge, because we have been a really bad starting team all year, and digging ourselves holes," Smith said. "We are getting out of them, but it's often too little, too late. I felt really good about that start." Delphi took its first lead of the game at 26-25 midway through the second quarter, and then from there the teams couldn't separate from each other. Neither team led by more than four points over the next quarter and a half that featured six lead changes and physical play. Along with Sawyer's 25, Quinn Westerfeld had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Stars. Tristyn Faulk added eight points and nine rebounds, with Jaden Latham having eight points and six boards. The Stars face Rensselaer Central (3-20) at 6 p.m. on Friday night at Delphi. The second semifinal will feature North Montgomery (7-17) against Benton Central (9-14). "We just have to make sure we are doing the little things right," Smith said. "Moving on offense and then defense just continuing to chop wood and get better. We just have to continue to focus on getting stops and getting rolling offensively."