REGIONAL — The Ely boys basketball team flat out dominated the International Falls
Broncos in a season-opening 81-29 road win last Friday, but more impressive than the score was how they played.
This wasn’t a physical beatdown – it was a tactical one. With seasoned leaders Drew Johnson and Jack Davies leading the way, the Wolves were in midseason form as they executed their offensive and defensive game plans even better than Head Coach Tom McDonald had anticipated.
“I was a bit nervous going into the game, but we just played so well on both ends of the floor,” McDonald said. “I thought we handled the ball well and really played defense well, as they never seemed to be able to penetrate our zone.”
Wyatt Tedrick notched the first points of the season for the Wolves, with a pair of buckets sandwiched around a Davies fast break score to give Ely an early 6-0 lead. Johnson got on the board with a play that worked all night for the Wolves, taking an alley-oop pass on a backside cut into the lane for an easy score and a 12-2 lead. Precision and focus were the drivers for Ely’s scoring machine as the Wolves rolled to a 40-14 halftime lead en route to the blowout win.
“We limited our turnovers to nine in the first game, and we had 21 steals,” McDonald said.
Johnson had a big night for the Wolves, scoring 28 points, grabbing eight rebounds, and dishing out eight assists. Davies notched 16 points, while Tedrick hit for nine and Jacob Vanderbeek came off the bench in the second half to hit three treys for nine points.
The Wolves’ scheduled home debut against Floodwood on Tuesday was postponed due to weather, making Friday’s tilt against Mesabi East the team’s first venture onto the Memorial High hardwood.
Ely has a road trip to Cherry on Monday and will travel to North Woods to take on the Grizzlies on Thursday.