NELIGH — It wasn’t even close. The Wolfpack showed fans how seedings don’t mean a thing when it comes to the NVC Conference Basketball Tournament.
Elgin Public-Pope John, the 12th seed, destroyed fifth-seeded Niobrara-Verdigre 69 to 47 in first round action Saturday afternoon.
Juniors Hunter Reestman and Kyle Schumacher combined for 42 points to lead the Wolfpack to their third victory of the season. Again, it wasn’t even close. The Wolfpack jumped out to a 16 to 11 lead after one quarter, then buried the Cougars in the second quarter, outscoring them 21 to 4.
The Cougars had no answer for the Wolfpack’s bombers from beyond the three-point arc as the Wolfpack connected on six treys. Reestman was on fire in the early going as he connected on four of his six treys in the first half.
In the second quarter, the Wolfpack had back-to-back-to-back treys from Reestman (two) and Liam Heithoff to make the score 30 to 13.
Ashton Evans got the Wolfpack going in the right direction as he connected on a trey to start the third quarter as the lead grew to 21 points, 43 to 22. Then, in a span of 30 seconds, Reestman buried back-to-back treys to push the lead to 50 to 29.
Adam Dreger came off the bench to provide an offensive spark in the second half, scoring six points, including four in the fourth quarter.
Reestman led the Wolfpack (3-13) with 26 points, Schumacher added 16. The Wolfpack made 11 treys in the game, accounting for 33 points from behind the arc. They also connected on six of 11 free throws.
By virtue of the victory, they advance to the quarter-finals which were played Tuesday night (too late for press time).
Wolfpack 69, Cougars 47
Wolfpack……16 21 21 11 — 69
Cougars……..11 4 16 16 — 47
Wolfpack — Kyle Schumacher 7-14 0-0 16, Hunter Reestman 9-18 2-4 26, Ashton Krebs 2-3 3-3 7, Liam Heithoff 2-3 1-2 6, Ashton Evans 3-9 0-0 8, Adam Dreger 3-3 0-2 6, Cole Preister 0-1 0-0 0, RJ Lierman 0-1 0-0 0, Conor Ramold 0-2 0-0 0. Team totals: 26-54 6-11 69. Three-point shots — Wolfpack 11 (Kyle Schumacher 2, Hunter Reestman 6, Liam Heithoff 1, Ashton Evans 2)
Team statistics: Rebounds — Wolfpack 33 (Ashton Evans 8, Conor Ramold 6). Assists — Wolfpack 21 (Hunter Reestman 8). Steals — Wolfpack 3 (Hunter Reestman 2). Turnovers — Wolfpack 9.
