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ELY – The Wolves hit the gates running on Monday and never looked back on a young Cherry team. Even with running time in the second half, Ely won in a school-record blowout, 141-34.
Ely played …
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ELY – The Wolves hit the gates running on Monday and never looked back on a young Cherry team. Even with running time in the second half, Ely won in a school-record blowout, 141-34.
Ely played an aggressive full court press giving them numerous layup opportunities against the inexperienced Tigers.
“We played well from the start and really shot the ball well,” said Ely Head Coach Tom McDonald. “We had the opportunity to play all of our roster about equal minutes and everyone who played scored at least three points.”
The Wolves had a great night shooting from beyond the arc as they set a new school record with 19 three-pointers. Junior Patrick Vanderbeek hit seven himself, and one of them put him over 1,000 points for his career.
Ely has now won nine in a row. The team is healthy and playing good basketball as they head into the final stretch before playoffs.
Vanderbeek led scoring against Cherry, with 32 points. Carter Gaulke, with 27, wasn’t far behind, while reserves Jasiah Wigdahl and Will Davies added 14 apiece.
Ely stepped up a division and hosted 2A Eveleth-Gilbert on Friday night. Another strong defensive performance gave them the 65-33 win.
“I thought we played well on the defensive end of the floor and limited their good scoring opportunities,” said McDonald. “They have some good shooters who never really had a chance to get going.”
The Golden Bears came into the game with just five wins this season as Ely held them to their second-lowest point total for the year. The Wolves played a solid all around game and nearly doubled Eveleth-Gilbert’s point total by game’s end.
Gaulke poured in 18 points and notched seven assists while Dylan Fenske added 14 points. Vanderbeek had 12 points and Michael Lah led in rebounds with nine.
This week’s wins improved Ely’s record to 15-3. They’ll be in Aurora on Friday to take on Mesabi East. They’ll host Lakeview Christian on Tuesday. Both games start at 7:15 p.m.