ELGIN — With their season on the line and just eight minutes left on the clock, Karson Kallhoff and his teammates ‘shot down’ Kenesaw 43 to 36 Saturday evening.
The victory, in the district final, gave EPPJ one of eight coveted berths in the Class D2 State Tournament to be played next week in Lincoln.
It was a four-point game, the outcome could go either way yet, when Kallhoff arched the first of his two treys in the quarter to give the Wolfpack the upper hand.
“I made some big three’s and that’s why we came out here with the ‘W’.” Kallhoff said.
”It was a fun environment. I don’t think it was anything any of us had experienced before … Once we settled down and got the nerves out, we just came together as a team and stayed together. That’s our M.O. the whole year – stay together.”
Then, on the team’s next possession, Kallhoff did it again, this time giving the Wolfpack a 35 to 28 lead.
Freshman Max Henn then contributed two big baskets over a minute span. The first came at the 3:31 mark to give EPPJ a nine-point margin.
From that point on, the Blue Devils’ fate was sealed. Although, they made it interesting in the final minute of the game.
Two free throws by Maddox Wagoner cut the Wolfpack’s lead to 40 to 36. The Wolfpack answered with free throws from Jarek Erickson and Kallhoff to seal the victory.
“They (Kenesaw) played really good defense,” Coach Matt Euse said about the low-scoring game. “They were packing the paint. They made everything tough on Jarek. Early on the hoop was pretty small and then Karson took the lid off with a big basket … He had a couple of big ones tonight.”
…see more at this week’s Elgin Review.
