The Indians were led in scoring by tournament Most Valuable Player Zach Meritt with 17-points while teammates Mark Feather and Hayden Smith added 16 and 11 each.

Meritt – after a slow first half – led the offensive charge in the second half by netting 13 of his points.

Nine of those markers came during the third quarter when the Indians took command from a young, inexperience Z-R team that showed they have a lot to learn about varsity basketball.

“We hung in there the first half and our defense was pretty good but we just couldn't get anything going offensively,” said Z-R head coach Jamie Moyers. “You have to credit Wayne City for that. They have a very good team.”

Not only did the Tornadoes struggle offensively but they couldn't keep Wayne City from scoring at will in the second half.

During the third quarter scoring spree – the Indians were 8-of-16 from the floor.

When the quarter ended – Wayne City had the tourney title wrapped up at 36-12.

“We made some adjustments at halftime and got Mark and Zach the ball early on cuts to the basket,” said Coach Gerlach. “We got some steals and easy points and that builds confidence. We were able to put it all together there in the third quarter.”

Z-R played well enough to stay in the contest in the early going.
A rebound bucket by Payton Clark with under :05 left in the first quarter cut the Wayne City lead to just 7-4.

The Tornadoes best run of the night was a 6-2 spurt to begin the second quarter with Dylan Arvai scoring a pair of baskets with his reverse lay in at the 3:26 mark giving his club a 10-9 lead.

But Wayne City – who also struggled a bit offensively in the early stages of the title tilt – regrouped.

Feather scored on a outside a shot from the right side and then made a steal for a fast break score and a 16-12 lead at the intermission.

Defensively the Indians forced eight Z-R turnovers in the second frame (21 for the game) to set the stage for a big second half.

“We missed some early shots and when we went into the locker-room our energy wasn't very good,” added Coach Moyers. “I didn't like what I was seeing in their faces. I don't think they quit but I think their confidence just melted.”

Meritt got Wayne City the cushion that it needed in the third quarter with a pair of conventional three-point plays.Two drives to the basket produced scores and fouls on Z-R's Jeffrey Pedigo.
When his second free throw in the run found the mark – Wayne City led 27-12.

Feather matched Meritt with nine points himself – featuring a couple of drives to the basket.

Meritt stepped back and nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing with under a minute left and Feather scored on another move in the lane that beat the buzzer for a 36-12 advantage heading to the fourth quarter.

“I thought that in the third quarter our immaturity showed. I have preached patience to the kids but we took a lot of bad shots tonight,” Moyers finalized. “I have no varsity experience out there from last year so it is a learning process.”

After Arvai scored on a shot early in the fourth quarter – the Indians outscored Z-R 10-2 to push the lead to 46-16 which began the mercy rule continuous clock.

Meritt culminated his MVP run with two more baskets on baseline drives before Coach Gerlach began emptying his bench in front of a strong Wayne City fan contingent.

Wayne City didn't shoot a great percentage but the cold shooting early and late in the game was overshadowed by the hot hand during the middle two stanzas.

The Indians finished 17-of-47 overall while hitting 3-of-10 from behind the arc.

Z-R was 11-of-36 overall and 3-of-9 from outside.

It was the turnovers by Zeigler-Royalton – most of which were forced in the second and third quarters – that made the difference as Wayne City begins the season 3-0.

“Before the season started I told the guys I didn't think we were very good defensively and I told them that we were going to have to work on it a lot,” said Coach Gerlach. “And we have put that time in to get better defensively. The one thing about this group is that when I tell them what the game plan is – they go out and do it. We all work together as a team and when we do that we're pretty good.”