ELY- In a roller coaster basketball game with North Woods last week, the Ely Timberwolves watched a 12-point lead evaporate to nothing before catching the fast downslope again to hand the Grizzles a 16-point thumping at Ely.
Leading 20-17, the Wolves made their first big push on a three-ball by Joey Bianco and pushing the ball inside for baskets by Erron Anderson, Jake Cochran, and Bianco to go up 29-17. But Ely went scoreless for the next four minutes as North Woods countered with a 6-0 run capped by a fast break score by Brendan Chiabotti to trim the gap to 29-23. A layup by Bianco just before the halftime buzzer gave Ely a 33-25 cushion at the break.
Ely was back up by 11 four minutes into the second half when North Woods caught fire on both ends of the court, reeling off a 13-2 run to knot the score at 42-42 with 9:31 remaining. The surge included a three-ball and layup by Jared Chiabotti and a pair of fast break buckets by Jonah Burnett.
But after a time out, the Wolves regained their footing and responded with a big surge of their own, riding the hot hand of freshman guard Jack Davies. A trey by Davies broke the tie, and after a bucket by Bianco, Davies scored on a layup and then drained trifectas from the left corner on three consecutive possessions as the home crowd raucously celebrated Ely’s new 58-44 advantage.
Down 14 with just over three minutes remaining, the Grizzlies tried to get back into it from three-point range, but a solitary trey from Burnett with a minute left was the best they could muster as the Wolves coasted to a 65-49 win.
The Grizzlies had trouble solving the Wolves’ 2-3 zone defense, and Ely Head Coach Tom McDonald said that was a difference-maker.
“I thought defensively we were really, really good,” he said. “Offensively we had some lulls in there, but I thought our defense kept us in the game the whole time. Even if we were late we got a hand up on their shooters and made things difficult for them. We played well for 36 minutes.”
McDonald lauded Davies, who led the Wolves with 23 points, for his role in breaking the game open.
“I thought they were going to pull ahead and take it from us, but Jack had a big one. And then he had another one and got us the momentum there,” McDonald said. “He hit three of them in a row. He struggled in the first half a bit, but once he got his rhythm, he was really good.”
Bianco also hit double figures with 17, and McDonald acknowledged the challenge the Ely senior faces every time they take the floor.
“He always gets the other team’s best defenders, and tonight (Louie) Panichi and Burnett did a great job on him,” McDonald said. “He’s got to work hard to get his points. But I thought he did a nice job when things got tough for him of finding the open guys and we knocked down some shots.”
North Woods Head Coach Andrew Jugovich zeroed in on the Grizzlies’ over-reliance on the three-ball as the primary culprit in his team’s loss. North Woods shot dismally from beyond the arc, connecting on only five of 32 attempts.
“We’re not a three-point-shooting team by any means,” he said. “Our goal in practice this week was to work the ball inside, and when we did you could see that it works. We told them not to force the three, and we forced the three and that’s what lost the game.”
Burnett hit four of the five threes the Grizzlies made and finished with a team-high 26 points. No other Grizzlies scored in double figures.
The final score for the Grizzlies might have been even worse if Ely had taken better advantage of a huge disparity in fouls and free throws. Working the ball down low for much of the game, the Wolves drew 24 whistles but only went 11-of-28 from the line. Conversely, the Wolves were called for only nine fouls and North Woods hit the only two free throws they were awarded.