STAFFORD 51, CENTRE 47 — It's got to be the "pink shoes."

Stafford's Jacob Johnson wore his pink red shoes during a 19-point outing that sparked the Trojans past Lost Springs Centre 51-47 in the Wakefield 1A substate.

Centre's Brady Idelman's sliced Stafford's lead to 48-47 on a 3-point play with 15 seconds left. Stafford's Landon Marks sank a free throw for a 48-47 score with seven seconds left. Johnson blocked Idelman's attempted tying shot and sank two clinching free throws for a 51-47 victory.

"I’m old school, but I enjoy shoes and so do my players. They have all kinds of colors, pink, purple, green, multi-colored you name it among options they use."

Stafford erased a 29-22 halftime deficit with 14 consecutive points for a 36-29 lead. Johnson scored 14 second-half points. Jace Kreutzer added 10 points.

Centre's Idelman scored 13 points. Colby Diepenbrock added 11 points.

Stafford (5-19) plays at powerhouse Hanover (22-1) in Saturday's Wakefield semifinal.

Stafford 10 6 16 19 — 51

Centre 13 10 6 18 — 47

STAFFORD (5-19)—Johnson 8 3-5 19; Kreutzer 4 2-2 10; Marks 4 1-4 9; Cecchin 3 0-0 6; Simmons 2 0-4 4; Engelbrecht 1 0-0 2; Oleson 0 1-2 1; Totals 22 7-17 51

CENTRE (7-14)—Idelman 6 1-2 13; Diepenbrock 4 (1) 2-4 11; Brenner 2 5-8 9; Kroupa 2 (1) 4-4 9; Carlson 2 0-0 4; (11) 0 1-2 1; Totals 16 (2) 13-20 47

1A DIV. 2 WAKEFIELD 

WAKEFIELD A (2-28)—1—at Axtell 22-1 vs. 8—at Pike Valley 5-18, 2 p.m.; 4—(at Osborne) Thunder Ridge 13-7 vs. 5—at Linn 13-10, 2 p.m. FIRST ROUND—Pike Valley48, Natoma 41; Linn 77, Wakefield 30

WAKEFIELD B—2—at Hanover 22-1 vs. 10—Stafford 5-19, 2 p.m.; 3—at Tescott 15-7 vs. 6—at Blue Valley 12-7, 2 p.m.; FIRST ROUND—Stafford 51, Centre 47; Blue Valley 62, Chase 15