GREENWAY - After trailing most of the night, Ely rallied down the stretch to pull out a 55-51 win at Greenway on Saturday, highlighted by junior Carter Gaulke scoring his 1,000th career point.

Despite being down double digits in the second half, Ely managed to take its first lead at 52-51 with 1:43 left on a pair of Evan Omerza free throws.

The Wolves then held strong on defense, sinking three more free throws to seal the win.

Two of the free throws came from Gaulke, putting him over 1,000 points for his career.

“I think Carter getting over 1,000 as a junior is a testament about his work in the offseason,” Ely head coach Tom McDonald said. “Anytime the gym is open to play or to work on skills, Carter is there. He has developed into a very good basketball player, not only with his scoring, but also with his ability to handle the basketball, which has come about with many, many hours of practice.”

Blaise Lah hit the final free throw with six seconds left to make it a two-possession game and clinch the win.

“It was a very nice comeback win for us, as we were down by 10 in the second half and fought back and got the win,” McDonald said. “I thought we played some very good defense down the stretch and Gaulke and (Pat) Vanderbeek both hit three-point shots in the last six minutes to draw us closer.”

The Wolves earned a much more comfortable win the night before, routing visiting South Ridge 82-39 on Friday.

Vanderbeek caught fire once again from the perimeter, draining nine threes in a 29-point effort.

Gaulke finished with 13 points and Braxton Casey scored 10 points to also reach double figures.

Lah pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds, Omerza had 11 assists and Adam McDonald contributed five assists.

“It was a tight game early and we broke away,” McDonald said. “I thought we defended much better in the latter parts of the game.”

The Wolves improved to 18-7 on the season, with a home game tonight versus Northeast Range before the Section 7A playoffs begin.

Following play-in games on Monday at high seeds, the second round will take place Wednesday at Hibbing and the section quarterfinals will be held Friday in Duluth.

“We will have to continue to play well defensively in the playoffs to have a chance to win, and we will also need to shoot the ball well,” McDonald said. “We have been reliant on the three-point shot and hopefully in the playoffs we shoot well and also get some easier opportunities inside the three-point line.”