ELGIN — Victory tastes sweet, especially at tournament time when it’s win and advance.
Elgin Public-Pope John did just that Saturday night, defeating North Central 60 to 46 in the first round of the Niobrara Valley Conference boys basketball tournament.
The Wolfpack built a 13-point lead in the first half as, Coach Scott Becker said, the team passed the ball well to find the open man.
In the second half, the Wolfpack held off several runs by the Knights. Back-to-back baskets by Kyle Kallhoff gave the Wolfpack a 36 to 21 advantage with just over six minutes left in the third quarter. North Central answered back, cutting the lead to 38 to 27 on a trey by Cash Cosgrove.
Following a basket by Chad Bode, the two teams traded baskets before North Central’s Quinton Shaw cut the lead to 11 points, 42 to 31.
Twice the Knights had a chance to cut the Wolfpack’s lead to single digits, only to be thwarted by the Wolfpack’s defensive play.
A three-pointer by Ashton Evans bumped the lead back to 14 points with two minutes to go in the quarter and the Knights were unable to make another significant run the rest of the game.
At one point in the fourth quarter the lead grew to 16 points as the Wolfpack’s quickness was too much for North Central to overcome on this night.
Kallhoff led EPPJ with 12 points, Scott Moser had 11 and Dylan Behnk tossed in 10 points. Cosgrove led the Knights with 10 points.
Wolfpack 60, North Central 46
North Central..8 9 17 12 — 46
Wolfpack……16 14 19 11 — 60
Wolfpack — Dylan Behnk 4-6 2-4 10, Chad Bode 3-5 1-2 7, Ashton Evans 1-1 1-2 4, Liam Heithoff 0-2 0-0 0, Kyle Kallhoff 5-11 1-4 12, Austin Meis 4-5 0-1 8, Scott Moser 3-7 5-6 11, Seth Schumacher 4-13 8. Team totals: 24-50 10-19 60.
North Central — Jakob Heerten 4, Cash Cosgrove 10, Ethan Munger 4, Sage Osborn 8, Quinton Shaw 8, Kevin Udd 7, Griffin Smith 5. Team totals: 16-47 10-16 46.
Team statistics — Three-point shots – Wolfpack 2-7 (Ashton Evans 1, Kyle Kallhoff 1), North Central 4-15. Rebounds – Wolfpack 33 (Dylan Behnk 7), North Central 31. Assists – Wolfpack 11 (Seth Schumacher 4, Ashton Evans 3), North Central 8. Steals – Wolfpack 10 (Seth Schumacher 7), North Central 16. Turnovers – Wolfpack 16, North Central 20.
