ESKO— The Timberwolves’ season came to a definitive end here on Saturday during the quarterfinal round of the Section 7A basketball playoffs. The Wolves managed to connect on just 15 of 62 shots as they fell 67-37 to Mt. Iron-Buhl.
“We could never get into an offensive flow with their physical defense,” said Ely Head Coach Tom McDonald. “We just struggled with our shooting. I thought we did well enough trying to contain them on defense but could never generate enough offense to make it a game.”
Senior Caid Chittum, Ely’s leading scorer this season, scored 24 of Ely’s 37 points during what proved to be the final game of his high school basketball career. Ely sophomore Leo McKrahl came off the bench to notch ten rebounds, while fellow sophomore Max Brandriet added six boards.
Ely had a more impressive outing March 5 when they hosted McGregor in the playoffs’ opening round, winning 61-45. “We played really well on the defensive end and did enough on the offensive end to get the win,” said McDonald. Chittum and junior Jack Davies notched 20 points apiece while junior Drew Johnson added 15. “Senior Wyatt Mattson gave us a spark with hustle plays and ended up leading us in rebounds with nine,” said McDonald. Davies added six assists.
Saturday’s loss ended the season at 17-11. “It was a nice turnaround from last year’s 11-16 season,” noted McDonald. “Caid Chittum set two school records...the 50-point game against Bigfork in December and also a season scoring record of 713 points.” Chittum ends his high school career with a total of 1,467 points.
McDonald had kudos for his team and he is hopeful for a successful season next year, assuming his players work on their skills during the off-season. “It was a very nice group to work with as they came to practice every day with a great work ethic and great attitudes,” he said. “We have the potential to being pretty good but it will all depend on the work they put in from now to November.”