ELY — It’s said that what goes around comes around, and that’s an apt description for the Ely boys this past week as they demolished Chisholm by 30 points in a Thursday road game, 71-41, then returned home and found themselves on the receiving end of a Mt. Iron-Buhl 29-point beatdown, 68-39.
The Wolves got off to a quick start against the Bluestreaks with a perfectly executed lob pass from Drew Johnson to a streaking Wyatt Tedrick for a lay in, followed by a Johnson bucket. Ely opened up some distance when Tedrick connected on a three to make the score 19-10, and a Johnson free throw doubled up the score at 24-12. The Wolves closed out the half with a 13-6 run to take a 37-18 lead at the break.
The Wolves’ active zone defense kept Chisholm shooters off base as the Ely lead continued to build in the second half. The advantage ballooned to 25 at 46-21 with 16 minutes remaining, and Ely cruised from there for the 30-point win.
Johnson topped the scoring chart for Ely with 21 points. Jack Davies had 20, Tedrick 16 and Leo McKrahl 11.
“We really played well defensively at Chisholm and limited their opportunities,” Ely Head Coach Tom McDonald said. “I also thought we were good offensively and had a lot of very good possessions. It’s a place we haven’t had a lot of success at, so it was nice to get a big win at Chisholm.”
Mt. Iron-Buhl
The Wolves took the court against the Rangers on Tuesday with their sights set on making it a more competitive game than their 65-46 loss in January, and a Johnson trey got them off to a good start. A Tedrick jumper in the lane and a Johnson steal and score put the Wolves up 7-3, but the Rangers came back to take a 15-11 lead with just over nine minutes left in the half. With consistent play on both ends of the floor, MIB forged its way to a 31-19 halftime lead.
Davies tried to get the Wolves on the comeback trail by opening the second half with a corner trey, but it didn’t take long for the Rangers to build the lead to 20 at 44-24. There weren’t any answers to be found for the Wolves as MIB continued their roll to the 68-39 win.
Johnson led the Wolves in scoring with 17.
“We started well on both ends of the floor, but they made a little run at the end of the first half that we really didn’t recover from,” McDonald said. “We started turning the ball over which led to some uncontested layups for them. We had 24 turnovers on the night, and the only game we had more was at MIB in January. We just struggled with their pressure, and they never allowed us to feel comfortable in the half court. They also shot well in the second half and we didn’t.”