ELGIN — A fast start and a strong finish lifted Elgin Public-Pope John to a 67 to 54 victory over Spalding Academy in the finals of the Class D2-5 Subdistrict.
Playing Thursday night, the Wolfpack (13-12) scored 12 of the game’s first 14 points and never trailed as they defeated the Shamrocks for the second time this season.
Paiton Hoefer and Colton Wright got the team off to a hot start as both had four points in the first quarter. The team also got points from Nick Anderson and Jack Wemhoff to take an 18 to six lead late in the quarter.
Then, starting with a buzzer-beater to end the first quarter, Wemhoff hit three treys and a two-pointer for 11 points in a row which ballooned the lead up to 29 to 10 with 5:35 to go before halftime.
The Wolfpack added eight more points in the remaining five+ minutes to lead 37 to 19. EPPJ capitalized on Spalding Academy’s cold shooting from beyond the arc as they had just three treys in the first half. But that would all change. For the complete story turn to this week’s Review.