WAUSA — In what may go down as a career night, Viking Jaxon Claussen scored 39 points to lead Wausa to a 66 to 56 victory over previously unbeated Elgin Public-Pope John.
Claussen proved to be nearly unstoppable in the game, doing everything from tossing in a buzzer-beater three-pointer from the Wolfpack’s free throw line, to dunking the ball on a breakaway. In between, his two and three-point baskets kept the Vikings on top.
Tied 26-all after two quarters, the Wolfpack scrateched out a five-point lead (41 to 36) on a trey by Paiton Hoefer.
Wausa answered back with a seven-to-three run to close out the quarter to only trail by one point, 44 to 43 on Claussen’s buzzer-beater.
Wausa then made their move early in the fourth quarter, building up an eight-point lead 54 to 46 midway through the quarter.
EPPJ got back-to-back baskets by Jarek Anderson to trail 56 to 50 with just over three minutes remaining.
From that point, Wausa fought to keep their lead with free throws. They made six of 13 free throws to lead 60 to 54 with just under a minute to play. Keeping EPPJ within striking distance were points from Erickson, Myles Kittelson and Blake Henn. For the complete story, turn to this week’s Elgin Review.
