LINCOLN — All season long, the Wolfpack have found a way to come back when trailing on the scoreboard.
True to form, they nearly did it again, this time in the opening round of the Class D2 Boys State Basketball Tournament.
Down 12 points midway through the fourth quarter, the Wolfpack made Wynot earn the victory 60 to 53 Thursday night at the Devaney Sports Center.
Jarek Erickson’s three-point play at the start of the fourth quarter pulled EPPJ to within four points, 44 to 40. Wynot then scored the next eight points to lead 52 to 40 with 4:34 left in the game.
Then, the Wolfpack made one last run at the Blue Devis. Free throws by Max Henn and Erickson followed by a two-pointer from by Erickson had the Wolfpack trailing by just seven points, 53 to 46, with 2:40 left in the game.
Wynot then came back, making four of six free throws to lead by 11 points with 1:43 left in the game. After a made free throw from Henn, Erickson drained a trey to cut the lead to 57 to 50 with 1:25 left in the game.
After Wynot missed four straight free throws, Erickson made another trey to cut the Blue Devils’ lead to just four points, 57 to 53 with 40 seconds left. That’s as close as the Wolfpack would get as they missed out on an opportunity to score after Wynot missed two more free throws.
Erickson fouled out with 25 seconds to go and Wynot capitalized when Justin Heimes was twice sent to the foul line and he made three of four free throws to seal the victory.
“We had open looks and opportunities,” Coach Matt Euse said. “It just wasn’t our night … We didn’t play our best game, but we still had every chance to win that game.”
Wynot jumped out early to take the lead, then never relinquished it the rest of the game. Karson Kallhoff got EPPJ on the board after two minutes expired at the start of the game. The first of his two treys made the score five to three. Henn and Erickson followed with back-to-back two-pointers and EPPJ trailed by one, eight to seven. Wynot then began a nine-to-zero run, holding EPPJ scoreless for more than four minutes. Erickson and Kellan Hoefer found the mark. Kallhoff followed with six straight points (back-to-back-to-back free throws and a trey) to cut the lead to 21 to 17 with 3:41 to go before halftime.
….see more at this week’s Elgin Review.
