By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The Windham Bombers rode the wave of a strong first quarter to a 66-64 Division IV sectional championship victory over Wellsville on Friday night.

The Bombers, on the road, put up 22 first-quarter points, in a game that went back and forth the entire way.

Senior Zack Turk came up huge in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of the Bombers’ 15 points over the final eight minutes, to finish with a team-high 18 points in the game.

Turk was one of four Windham players in double-digits, with Carlos Bruton scoring 17 points, Lucas Churchill had 15 and Chase Eye added 11 for the Bombers.

“It was a great high-school basketball game to be a part of, and I am proud of our guys for fighting until the end,” Windham head coach Cody Apthorpe said. “A great credit to Wellsville’s players and coaching staff.”

After Windham established a 22-15 lead after the first quarter, Wellsville closed the gap and the Bombers led just 34-33 at halftime and 51-47 after the end of the third quarter.

“We got off to a really great start in the first quarter, then our defense and shot selection started to let us down in the second quarter,” Apthorpe said. “We battled through a tough third quarter and held off a very tough team down the stretch.

Jaxson Brewer led Wellsville in scoring with 23 points, while Isiah Greathouse added 16 and Ed Stock scored 13 for Wellsville.

Next up for the 12th-seeded Bombers is a district semifinal against No. 2 Warren John F. Kennedy. The game will be played on Monday at Struthers High School at 7 p.m.