ELY- The Ely boys extended their win streak to five this past week by obliterating Stella Maris at home on Thursday 103-30 and picking up big wins on the road at Hill City/Northland, 92-58 on Saturday, and Bigfork 69-60 on Tuesday.

The matchup against the Huskies on Tuesday was a dogfight between two well-matched opponents. After an opening score by Drew Johnson and a pair of buckets by Wyatt Tedrick, the Wolves fell behind but knotted the score at 13-13 on a trey by Tyler Fritz. LBF went up by as many as four before Ely came back to take the lead at 24-22 on a second consecutive basket by Johnson with 6:30 left in the half. Triples by Johnson and Jack Davies gave the Wolves a 30-25 edge, but the lead was only two at the half, 34-32.

Trailing 42-43 early in the second stanza, Ely cranked out an 8-0 run on a Johnson two, a pair of Davies free throws, and two scores by Tedrick to take a 50-43 lead with 10:33 left. While the Huskies got back within three, scores by Johnson, Davies and Tedrick pushed the lead to nine with 5:01 remaining, 60-51, giving the Wolves the cushion they needed to notch their ninth win of the season.

“It was good to get a win against a very hard working and scrappy Bigfork team,” Head Coach Tom McDonald said. “They played us well and they played with lots of energy. I thought we clamped down on defense and really attacked the basket and didn't rely on our three point shots. Drew and Wyatt were really good at getting to the rim and getting easier baskets.I also thought we rebounded better in the second half and took better care of the ball after having nine first half turnovers.”

Johnson topped the team in points with 26, Tedrick connected for 20 and Davies drained14. Arturo Cameron had 10 rebounds.

Other games

The Stella Maris and Hill City/Northland wins were reminiscent of big winning margins the Wolves have piled up against lesser opponents this season. Both featured Ely’s constantly evolving zone defense, what the team hangs its hat on to both stop teams from scoring and generate opportunities for the team to run, which they did plenty of.

The game against Hill City/Northland was close at halftime, with the Wolves leading by only nine. But the team warmed up from the field in the second half, connecting on nine threes to pull away.

Johnson led the offensive attack with 29, Davies had 27, Tedrick had 11, and Leo McKrahl had 10. Max Brandreit had eight rebounds.

Against Stella Maris, Johnson continued his torrid scoring with 33 points, Davies hit for18, Elliot Eastham had 11, and McKrahl tallied 10.